Ode to a Butterfly

March 1, 2019

Observing a monarch butterfly in the 1850s, Emily Dickinson wrote about its apparently aimless flitting, “Repairing everywhere, without design that I could trace, except to stray abroad on miscellaneous enterprise, the clovers understood.” She knew butterflies were somewhat mysterious. They still are. Someone monitoring populations decided that monarch butterflies are in grave danger, requiring immediate […]

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What Exactly is a Species?

February 22, 2019

For 50 years, Americans have spent untold resources worrying, arguing, regulating, and litigating, over “endangered species.” You might think by now we have a clear understanding of those two simple words. We do not. Experts often disagree on whether something is “endangered,” as some plants and animals have always been rare. Even more perplexing, though, […]

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Where The Buffalo Don’t Roam

February 15, 2019

A talented Oregon blogger named Andy Kerr recently posted an eloquent piece called “Where the Buffalo Roam,” extoling the virtues of the “American Prairie Reserve,” a giant conservation project underway in Montana. He mentions the folk song, “Home on the Range,” with an interesting observation. It recalls a nostalgic view of ranching life on the […]

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Compared to What?

February 8, 2019

If I said my eyes have an optical power of more than 50 dioptres, would you say that is impossible? Or perfectly normal? Or like most people, would you ask, “What in the world is a dioptre?” Context matters. In today’s often-contentious debates on environmental issues, context is essential. Without understanding the various measurements that […]

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Re-Wilding the National Parks

January 25, 2019

We may have discovered, accidentally, a way to give the most radical environmental advocates what they want. We simply shut down the government, or at least part of it (the National Park Service). The most elitist, anti-people concept is the “rewilding movement.” Put simply, it proposes to discontinue active management of public lands, so humans […]

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This Time They Went Too Far

January 18, 2019

You can count on your ten fingers the number of times the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled unanimously on any environmental issue. And you can count on the fingers of one hand the unanimous rulings on endangered species issues. In fact, you only need one finger to count those unanimous rulings, as it has only […]

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Governing Without Congress

January 11, 2019

If America’s founders had been forced to choose between having no Congress, or no President, they would quickly have chosen the latter. They knew all too well the abuses of an all-powerful monarch. But they also knew complex governments cannot be run by committee, so the delicate system of “checks and balances” between executive and […]

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But Wait, We’re Against That, Too

January 4, 2019

A political mentor once explained to me why civility is key to long-term success, noting that “today’s worst enemy may be tomorrow’s only friend.” The reverse is also true. Erin Mundahl, an Inside Sources energy reporter, writes about left-leaning green-oriented resort towns coming under fire from environmental activists. She highlights a controversy raging in Whistler, […]

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A Small Step, or a Giant Leap?

December 21, 2018

In 1961, President Kennedy established a national goal “before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth.” We did. Not long after Neil Armstrong walked on the moon in 1969, President Nixon proclaimed a similarly vital national goal, to end America’s dependence on foreign oil […]

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And Now, a Word From the Concerned

December 18, 2018

A highly publicized report this month was titled “Science Under Siege at the Department of the Interior.” Wow. The implication is that every morning the Secretary, his staff, and his boss the President, wake up wondering what they can do to rid the world of science and scientists. The report comes from a group called […]

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