The International Energy Agency projects 65 percent growth in world energy demand by 2020. Two questions pop up: How will we meet this energy demand and what are the environmental consequences of our choices? When we consider these issues we confront three vexing realities. First, fossil fuels (i.e., oil and coal) are our cheapest, most […]
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It’s an accident of geology that most of the world’s proven reserves of low-cost oil are in unfriendly or politically unstable countries. This reality prompts calls to “reduce our dependence on foreign oil.” A recent article in Slate magazine describes an alliance of Iraq war hawks seeking to reduce American dollars flowing to oil-rich Islamic […]
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Bozeman is an attractive place to live. Its natural beauty and community character foster rapid growth. Increased traffic is one unpleasant consequence. In response, some have proposed a public bus system. Is this really the best solution to our traffic woes? How many people travel only from home to work and back home on a […]
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Two questions nag America’s energy policy. First, when will America move from fossil fuels? Second, what is the next source of BTUs? No one knows the answers — but knowledgeable people agree the shift won’t come soon. Aside from temporary shortages caused by political disruptions, the world is awash in cheap oil and will be […]
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For more than a decade we’ve run a series of seminars for federal judges. We don’t teach law but rather explore contentious scientific issues with policy implications. Several hundred federal judges have come to Montana to learn about biotechnology, endangered species, climate change, and energy policy, for example. Whatever the topic, ethical concerns always emerge. […]
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People don’t easily forget a breach of trust. Recent reports from Wall Street and the world of high finance regarding Enron, WorldCom, and Arthur Anderson have generated a huge amount of talk, news, and indictments. Those of us resolutely residing in the bucolic simplicity of the Northwest aren’t much affected by big-league shenanigans, except perhaps […]
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I’ve always appreciated wind power. While growing up, both Ramona and I had windmills on our home places; Ramona’s pumped water and generated electricity. And we recently installed a small wind-powered pump on our ranch. Now I see an important educational opportunity. It compellingly demonstrates the importance and ubiquity of trade-offs. No honest, responsible Green […]
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The Ethanol Producers and Consumers met this week in Whitefish. If you had attended you would have seen the political equivalent to the law of gravity at work. Here it is: Well-off, well-organized groups use government to transfer wealth and opportunities from the poorly organized and less well off to themselves. Both Republicans and Democrats […]
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Bjorn Limber calls himself “an old left-wing Greenpeace member” . He teaches statistics in the department of political science at the University of Aarhus, Denmark. In 1997, an article about the late economist Julian Simon angered him. He claimed that the state of humanity and the natural environment were both improving. Specifically, Simon predicted: “The […]
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Does our energy future imply only a set of dismal choices? The risks of nuclear power or air pollution from new power plants? The risk to wildlife from oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refugee or the Rocky Mountain Front? While it’s irresponsible to ignore trade-offs, these are not the important questions we face. […]
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