Greens often condemn Americans for their allegedly prodigal treatment of natural resources and the environment. This is a common theme in the environmental literature. Ed Abbey, author of The Monkey Wrench Gang, was one of the inspirations of Earth First! His statement, “Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell”, suggests the […]
Read MoreWhy Civil Rights Metaphors Are Inappropriate for Getting Off Oil Writing on the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” former green-jobs czar Van Jones invoked Dr. King to justify the environmental movement’s singular focus on stopping the Keystone XL pipeline: “There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs […]
Read MoreThis week’s FREE Insight is a summary of the talk that I gave yesterday (11/5/13) at Harvard and will also present at NYU Law tomorrow (11/7/13). The full paper can be found by clicking here. I find fiduciary trusts attractive arrangements for managing parks and wild lands, especially after October 1. National parks […]
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This is a story of thankfulness. This is a story that makes me proud to be an American. The West Yellowstone Economic Development Council celebrated the 25th Anniversary of the 1988 Fires on September 2nd 2013, the day 25 years ago when farmers from southern Idaho trucked their irrigation pipes to “West” and helped set […]
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Summer in Montana is a time to celebrate–and to share with visitors. We have many and nearly all are environmentally sensitive. None visit us by accident or advertisement. Most fish, hike, ride, or bike. The vast majority of our guests recycle. So do we. But not everything. That distinction poses the paradox. Pacific Steel and Recycling […]
Read MoreIntroduction by John Baden, Chairman, FREE My friend and colleague, professor Jerry Johnson of Montana State University, just returned from two inspiring trips. One was to Lake Iliamna, the largest lake in Alaska. The other was the Greater Yellowstone Coalition’s (GYC) first 400-mile bike trip through the Greater Yellowstone area. Jerry’s essay below focuses on the […]
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Introduction by John Baden, Chairman, FREE In last week’s FREE Insight Mary Roloff wrote of her family farm and the culture in which it is embedded. “My grandfather … carried a gun to protect himself from those that would do him harm, take what didn’t belong to them, hurt his family, or to kill […]
Read MorePolitical Correctness: My Top Ten Universities are immersed in a sea of bias. Here are some indications. By Jane S. Shaw When commentator John Stossel was at ABC News, he said that talking to his colleagues about their bias was like talking to fish about water—“What water? It’s just what we live in.” Academia, too, lives […]
Read MoreIn her report on Judge Holly Brown’s dismissal of a challenge to the Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks agreement with Ted Turner on the management of Yellowstone Park bison (May 12, 2013), the Chronicle article states the following: “Under the public trust doctrine, which applies nationwide, the state has the responsibility to manage and […]
Read MoreMaui and Montana Ramona and I just returned from an academic meeting in Maui. We found new confirmation that economics is really a sub-set of behavioral ecology (or evolutionary biology if you prefer). Here’s an example. After an all night flight, we awoke at our ranch this morning with 3″ of snow and a large […]
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