Is the Goal Cleaner Air – Or Something Else?

May 11, 2024

In 1991, Oleta Adams sang “Get Here” on “Soul Train.” She spent 23 weeks on the Billboard top 100 with the love ballad, listing all the ways he could get to her: by railway, trailway, airplane, caravan, sailboat, swinging on a rope, by sled, horseback, or even by windsurfing, magic carpet, or hot air balloon. […]

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How to Recover Endangered Species – Or Not

May 1, 2024

A group called Environment Oregon is circulating a petition asking the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFSW) to get on with it. Two years ago, the agency proposed reintroducing sea otters to the Oregon Coast, concluding that reintroduction was not only feasible, but essential. The agency has done absolutely nothing about it since. The government […]

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Department of Energy: The New Philosopher King

April 26, 2024

There is a famous story about Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman walking down the street with a friend. The friend stopped and said, “Hey, there is a $20 bill on the sidewalk.” The economist turned to him and replied, “There can’t be. If there were a $20 bill on the sidewalk, somebody would have picked […]

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Governments Cannot Change the Automobile Market

April 22, 2024

Electric cars are set to dominate the worldwide automobile market. They account for more than a third of all cars on the road, and gas-powered cars are only 22 percent. The year is 1900, and both engine types will soon overtake primitive steam-powered vehicles, still 40 percent of the vehicles in America. Although Stanley Steamers […]

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The Most Important Conservationist You’ve Never Heard Of

April 19, 2024

When I first moved to Washington, D.C., fresh out of college in 1979, a Capitol Hill friend offered a temporary room in a great old townhouse. Another room was occupied by a somewhat quirky, funny, and absolutely brilliant writer named R.J. Smith. He became the most important and influential conservation leader you’ve never heard of. […]

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Do Public Land Managers Even Need Congress?

March 29, 2024

When I was nominated for Congress some years ago, the management of public lands was a significant campaign issue. The federal government owns most of the land and resources in Colorado’s 3rd district, which encompasses most of the Western Slope and Southern Colorado. All the major candidates had ideas about how to improve public land […]

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Crying Crocodile Tears Over “Sue-and-Settle”

March 26, 2024

House Republicans were so upset that they held two committee hearings during 2023, and in November the Committee on Oversight and Accountability announced that it will investigate EPA’s “use of secretive ‘sue-and-settle’ practices.” The Chairman says EPA uses the tactic “to avoid congressional oversight” and implement policies that special interests want. Letting outside groups sue the […]

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Alopecic Aquila Just Doesn’t Sound As Patriotic

March 22, 2024

When the Continental Congress designated the bald eagle for America’s official seal, they were drawing on centuries of the bird’s symbolism, especially in Christian cultures. Although eagles were seen as symbols of strength and power earlier, even in ancient Rome, its adoption by early Christian churches made it emblematic of a perfect leader, its keen […]

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Flapdoodling With Forest Management

March 8, 2024

For decades we have debated the destruction of our national forests caused by a lack of management. We have watched catastrophic fires incinerate 200 million acres over the last 30 years. Yet we still cannot escape the conceited, supercilious popinjays in the environmental industry who insist on dictating forestry policy to professional foresters. The latest […]

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Using a Different Tool to Control Water

March 1, 2024

There are at least 25 different types of wrenches commonly found in toolboxes. There are box-end, open-end, combination, and crescent wrenches. For particular jobs, one might reach for a lug wrench, basin wrench, oil filter wrench, or an impact, flare-nut, strap, chain, or torque wrench. Like most people, I also have socket wrenches, Allen wrenches, […]

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