OK, the Deserts Are Blooming – Now What

December 20, 2022

There are many studies on the history of the Bureau of Reclamation, established in 1902 to bring water, and life, to the west. Some writers claim it was needed to relieve overcrowding in the cities, to get people to move to farms. What nonsense. The migration of the American population from farms to cities had […]

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If All the Answers Fit on Bumper Stickers

December 8, 2022

The bumper sticker on the car in front of me this morning read, “There is no Planet B.” How profound. Senator Bill Armstrong once said, “We could change the world with a bumper sticker if we could figure out what to write on it.” He understood it is almost impossible for most people to ignore […]

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What Exactly is Settled Science?

November 29, 2022

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently made the statement that “There is scientific consensus that the lives of children are going to be very difficult… leading young people to have a legitimate question: is it still OK to have children?” I’m completely comfortable with her deciding not to have children, but that aside, what scientific consensus is […]

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Citizens of the Same World

November 18, 2022

History students learn one of the most famous lines from inaugural addresses, that spoken by President Kennedy in 1961, which begins, “And so my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you…” They rarely learn the next line, which was “My fellow citizens of the world, ask not what America will do […]

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Reduce, Reuse, Recover, and Recycle

November 11, 2022

Plastic is a relatively new product, though it is used everywhere and in almost everything. It started with Bakelite, invented by Leo Baekeland in 1907 and used for electric insulators like distributor caps and light switches, and in molded products like cigarette holders and the original black telephones. By about 1950 improvements in the chemical […]

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Regulating Cumulative Impacts is Protectionism

November 2, 2022

There is much ado about congressional leaders double crossing Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), promising a vote on his environmental permitting reform bill in exchange for his vote for the massive climate bill. No sooner was that bill passed than Democrats on the House side announced their refusal to schedule a vote on Manchin’s. In many […]

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Protecting Water From What – For What?

October 28, 2022

In all election years, candidates promise to protect Colorado water and supporters disagree on which candidate would do that best. This newspaper, in its editorial endorsements, mentioned water issues in five state and local campaigns, even basing its Attorney General endorsement primarily on the issue of protecting Colorado water. The latter endorsement has stirred up […]

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Who Benefits from U.S. Energy Policy?

October 15, 2022

Spoiler Alert – not you. Economist Stephen Moore has published a chart listing quarterly profits of America’s four largest technology firms. The numbers are unfathomable for mere mortals like us. Tesla earned $2.3 billion – that’s not total income, just profits (total income was over $30 billion). Profits were $6.7 billion for Meta (Facebook and […]

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Now They Want Different Rules?

October 14, 2022

Last summer a federal judge in California vacated a series of Trump-era rules on enforcement of the Endangered Species Act. It was a disappointment to many of us who had worked for years on several relatively modest reforms designed to make the cumbersome bureaucratic process more efficient. A couple weeks ago the 9th Circuit Court […]

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California’s Unlimited Water Supply

October 5, 2022

None of my columns have ever generated as many emails and phone calls as the recent series about the Colorado River, draining Lake Powell, and California’s abuse of its entitled share. When the Bureau of Reclamation decided to give that state a complete pass, instead cutting supplies yet again for Arizona, Nevada, and Mexico, many […]

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