After a series on monumental errors, our legislators are debating Montana’s energy future. They want to avoid a crisis of California proportions. They’re wrestling with forces and prices distorted by decades of regulation and flawed deregulation. California adopted policies that worsened problems. Basic economics can help us avoid mistakes by predicting likely consequences of alternative […]
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Here’s a key to understanding national politics. Politicians are rewarded when they advance policies with immediate benefits and distant costs. Under current arrangements, oil exploration and development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) fails this test. Yet, last week a page one feature in the Wall Street Journal, “Influence Market”, lead with the statement […]
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With prices of oil near $35 per barrel and natural gas above $5 per million BTU, the debate over development versus the preservation of natural landscapes has re-erupted. Think of the oil lying under Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) as a huge electromagnet energized as the price of crude goes up. A year ago, […]
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National politicians, like other mega-predators, continually seek niches to exploit. With gasoline prices nearing $2.00 per gallon, Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) offers a prime example of an exploitable political opportunity. Environmentalists have a rare opportunity to take advantage of this situation. Here’s how. On March 9th, US senators Frank Murkowski (R-AK) and Ted […]
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Last week wholesale gasoline prices hit a historic low (Alas, not at the pump in Montana however.) and crude oil is just over $11.00 per barrel. But it wasn’t supposed to turn out this way. On the first Earth Day, ecologist Kenneth Watt stated: “By the year 2000, …there won’t be any crude oil”. And […]
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If you aren’t a good boy, you’ll find a lump of coal in your stocking Christmas morning. This is an unhappy prospect for most American children. However, we can imagine situations in which a large lump of coal would be a blessing, for example in a city under siege. Coal would be a wonderful gift […]
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IN THE 25 years since Earth Day, increased environmental concern has helped us avoid some mistakes by focusing attention on many environmental problems. But concern alone is insufficient. No amount of concern will be enough to avoid environmental harm if information is of poor quality and incentives are perverse. How can we best channel our […]
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PRESIDENT Clinton is desperately looking for places to cut the budget. He even hints of hitting the Rural Electrification Administration. REA is an egregious example of government subsidies that enrich the wealthy while retarding environmentally beneficial innovation. REA was established in 1935 by President Roosevelt. It subsidized the delivery of electric power to remote rural […]
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