How will we meet our future energy demands and what are the environmental consequences of our choices? We’ll have a better chance at crafting successful policies if we recognize three vexing realities. First, fossil fuels are our cheapest, most available sources of energy. “Renewables” (e.g., solar and wind) will play only a limited role in […]
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Bozemanites live in the midst of a fascinating experiment in environmental economics. We are in the vortex of two colliding principles. First, trash flows downhill or downwind toward poverty, and second, economic systems evolve toward efficiency. We are watching these forces play out at the Holcim Trident cement plant near Three Forks, Montana. Holcim Inc., […]
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I recently read that the Property and Environment Research Center (PERC), a free-market environmental group in Bozeman, will celebrate its 25th anniversary on June 4th. Please join me in offering congratulations. PERC has done a great deal to improve America’s understanding of the institutions that promote and foster environmental quality, as well as those that […]
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Most folks instinctively believe growth and environmental protection are mutually exclusive. Increased economic activity and growing populations stress the Earth’s “carrying capacity.” In this view, we must choose between protecting the planet or promoting economic progress. Fortunately this is not the real choice. Consider this. Population Growth In 1798, Thomas Malthus published An Essay on […]
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While planning last week for my next seminar for federal judges, to be held in July by the Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment, I was disheartened to read that several distinguished judges had felt obliged to distance themselves from the Foundation by resigning from its Board of Trustees. This will be my […]
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Dear Governor Schweitzer: I supported your candidacy. I paid careful attention to your energy plans for Montana and believe you aspire to keep energy prices low while protecting Montana’s environment. I heartily endorse this goal. Hence I’m puzzled by your determination to subsidize the construction of ethanol plants and to mandate we use gasoline made […]
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While a graduate student, I had the great good fortune to know professor Marion J. Levy, of Princeton University. He heavily influenced my thinking on society and economy. In particular, he sensitized me to the pitfalls of relying upon good intentions and idealistic proclamations. I was working with Professor Levy at the time of the […]
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A year ago I wrote: “Urban and affluent newcomers to our region bring an utterly different value system for the land. To them, commodity extraction is inferior to the amenity value of land — scenery, recreation, open space, fish and wildlife, wilderness. Rather than the ‘boomers’ decried by [Wallace] Stegner, we now attract landscape architects […]
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Contrary to recent rumors and reports in the New York Times, environmentalism is not dead. An essay declaring it so, “The Death of Environmentalism,” has sparked an intense debate. Environmentalism is in trouble — but not for the reasons claimed. Modern environmentalism evolved from the radical social movements of the late 1960s. As a social […]
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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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