“Green New Deal” – Neither Green, nor New, nor a Deal

December 14, 2018

Campaign slogans have been amazingly consistent for a century. After Theodore Roosevelt’s “Square Deal,” two-word slogans were the fashion. Wilson pledged a “New Freedom,” FDR a “New Deal,” and Truman a “Fair Deal.” JFK promised a “New Frontier,” LBJ a “Great Society,” Bill Clinton a “New Covenant,” and Ronald Reagan a “New Beginning.” Barack Obama’s […]

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Defining Conflicts of Interest

December 7, 2018

Today’s broadcast media often seems able to handle only one story at a time. Big cable networks fixate on one event, sometimes for days, until the next event displaces it. Round-the-clock coverage of elections, random shootings, royal weddings, or presidential tweets leave us wondering if anything else is happening anywhere. Similarly, the environmental press hangs […]

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The Voters Have Spoken – But What Did They Say?

November 28, 2018

Near the end of the late-night election reporting, one commentator said the results did not feel like the anticipated “blue wave,” but “more like purple rain.” It was an apt description of an election that produced only mixed results for either side. Sovereignty in America does not belong to government, but to citizens, and they […]

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A Never Ending Story

November 23, 2018

When Durango attorney Gerry McDaniel and I walked into the Colorado Water Congress in 1991, we felt like strangers entering a saloon in old western movies – the piano player stops while the entire room stares. I was president of Club 20 and Gerry chaired its Water Committee. Several Western Slope legislators were already there: […]

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The Sky is Falling!

November 16, 2018

A new report from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) claims humans have killed more than half the all the wildlife in the world since 1970. The report attracted media mass attention, though if you read the entire 145-page essay, it doesn’t really say that, much less prove it. More ironic, the political focus is mostly […]

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This Hits Us Where We Live

November 9, 2018

I have a friend who is always very forthcoming with opinions on almost any subject, although when talking politics he often ends with, “It doesn’t really affect me one way or the other.” We all feel that way sometimes, because our political system can be completely paralyzed by excruciating details of the most inconsequential issues. […]

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Without Just Compensation

October 27, 2018

When the Supreme Court ruled gun bans in DC and Chicago unconstitutional, some gun activists advocated government simply buying up all the ammo. Guns would be worthless, they reasoned, if no bullets were available. That would be like giving phones to teenagers, but withholding all the batteries. That same concept is behind Colorado’s current debate […]

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Where Things Come From

October 19, 2018

Several times I have enjoyed speaking to school classes about various natural resources issues, and am invariably surprised at how poorly they understand where things come from. Water miraculously appears from the faucet, and gas from the pump, just as everything from milk and furniture to clothing and computers simply come from the store. They […]

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Getting Rich on Other People’s Money

October 12, 2018

Here’s how our scheme will work. I am a federal regulator, and want to make a new regulation. However, the legal rulemaking process is complicated and time-consuming. Even worse, most people are actually against it, so it might not get done through the regular process, because that requires public involvement and lots of pesky people […]

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This Change Should Worry No One

October 5, 2018

The story begins with an ominous picture of something about to go deeply wrong: “In a move that’s welcomed by Western conservatives but worries environmentalists, [Interior secretary Ryan] Zinke has directed…” We have seen literally dozens of articles in the past couple years with similar leads. Some environmental reporters might have those words permanently on […]

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