Winning Elections and Keeping Promises

March 15, 2019

One of the most frustrating aspects of American politics is the failure of elected officials to do what they promised. We resent politicians who campaign on an issue – say repealing Obamacare – and seem to forget it after the election. I know firsthand the rigorous demands of a campaign. One demand faced by conservatives […]

Read the full article →

How Green Will My Valley Be?

March 8, 2019

The proposed “Green New Deal” has attracted enormous attention in the past few weeks, mostly negative. In fact, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s promise of an early vote on the measure is widely seen as a stunt, designed only to embarrass democrats. Some democratic senators are scrambling to create an alternative to substitute before the […]

Read the full article →

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 […]

Read the full article →

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, […]

Read the full article →

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 […]

Read the full article →

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 […]

Read the full article →

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 […]

Read the full article →

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 […]

Read the full article →

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 […]

Read the full article →

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, […]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →