Planting Trees For Our Descendents

February 28, 2020

“Johnny Appleseed” was a legend by the time he died around 1845. The pioneer nurseryman introduced apple trees across a vast swath of the Midwest, and is revered as one of the earliest leaders of the fledgling conservation movement. Planting trees has been a noble pursuit for centuries, with heroes like him as role models. […]

Read the full article →

What Else Can We Work On?

February 21, 2020

For several years I have been a senior advisor to the respected environmental firm, Dawson and Associates. The organization helps with projects that require permits, especially from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), and the firm’s associates include numerous retired USACE officials. Many were generals, district commanders, and their civilian bosses at the Pentagon. […]

Read the full article →

Coal is Booming – Elsewhere

February 14, 2020

Few industries have seen more economic ups and downs than coal. In Colorado and most of the United States, it has been mostly down for a couple decades, but it turns out that is not the case elsewhere. Not by a long ways. Much has been made about the impacts of federal policy on the […]

Read the full article →

Turning the Aircraft Carrier

February 7, 2020

Since the days of George Washington, Presidents have wished they could make government employees do what they are told. Actually, that frustration is much older than America. Peter the Great once said, “People think I rule Russia, but a thousand bureaucrats rule Russia.” That’s one reason presidential candidates’ promises are often more difficult to deliver […]

Read the full article →

This is Certifiably Confusing

January 27, 2020

Leaders trying desperately to restore healthy forests and rebuild the forestry economy, from California to Australia, need all the help they can get. The not-so-new idea of forest certification could still be a powerful ally. For years, forest restoration has meant developing new products and new markets for the millions of tons of material that […]

Read the full article →

Waste Not, Want Not

January 24, 2020

CNN reports that “the fabric of America is crumbling,” quoting an American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) report giving a D+ grade to the country’s roads, bridges, airports, schools, and other public works. Melodramatic? The World Economic Forum now ranks the U.S. 13th in the world in maintaining adequate infrastructure, even below the United Arab […]

Read the full article →

Something to Give a Dam About

January 17, 2020

A wire story printed by dozens of newspapers last month called attention to a national safety problem, the age and condition of dams. Its headline said “At least 1,680 dams across the U.S. pose potential risk.” That is my candidate for understatement of the decade. There are 91,468 dams in the U.S., including 1,803 in […]

Read the full article →

Can We See Clearly Now?

January 10, 2020

Comics used to joke, “Maybe we’ll see things more clearly by 2020.” After a string of jokes about how muddled and confused the world seemed, the reference to perfect vision sounded especially humorous. It has only been 2020 for three days, but there are already hundreds of columns, editorials, and books using the now-trite reference […]

Read the full article →

Change the Terms – Win the Debate

January 5, 2020

Government no longer “spends money.” It “invests in the future.” If, despite that distinction, you still worry about multi-trillion-dollar deficits, you understand one of the most important techniques in the art of debate – when you’re losing, change the terms. Successful politicians master that art to push policies that might be unpopular if understood. If […]

Read the full article →

Boulder’s Me-Too Lawsuit

December 28, 2019

Colorado taxpayers, especially those in Boulder and San Miguel Counties, might want to ask how of their money is being spent pursuing climate lawsuits against oil companies, now that it’s clear those lawsuits are headed nowhere. The “Exxon Knew” strategy began with a highly-publicized press conference by then-New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. He accused […]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →