Drought Studies – When Will They Ever Learn?

June 27, 2025

Here is a late-breaking flash from a new study released last week at the University of Arizona: westerners use too much water. Pete Seeger’s 1960s folk standard, “Where Have All the Flowers Gone,” is in the Grammy Hall of Fame, made a genuine classic through cover versions by the Kingston Trio; Peter, Paul and Mary; […]

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Supreme Court Nips NEPA – A Good Start

June 11, 2025

Supreme Court decisions occasionally have far-reaching impacts, but the recent ruling in Utah’s Uintah Basin Railway case was a Doozy, in which the Justices unanimously hinted that Eagle County, Colorado should mind its own business. County Commissioners there had challenged the Surface Transportation Board’s approval of the 88-mile rail line, proposed by seven Utah counties […]

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From Cloned Sheep to Wooly Mammoths

June 6, 2025

A British biologist named John Gurdon won a Nobel Prize for discovering that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become “pluripotent.” That means mature cells can be converted into stem cells, so brain cells can be changed into heart, foot, or skin cells. That enabled Gurdon in 1962 to clone the first vertebrate in his lab, […]

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Energy and Environment: Having It Both Ways

May 30, 2025

A friend named Stephen Heins is an energy and environment consultant who for a long time called himself “The Practical Environmentalist.” We’ve been kindred spirits for years because we never bought the conventional wisdom that a healthy environment is incompatible with a prosperous economy. We think the two concepts should not only be compatible, but […]

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Preventing Attacks From Within

May 23, 2025

An article BBC Science Focus highlights the difficulties of “multi-tasking,” handling several things at a time, which apparently most of us don’t do very well. “In an ideal world, we’d focus on one task at a time, get it finished and only then move onto something else.” But in real life, “It’s all too common […]

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Who Do Those Congressmen Think They Are?

May 14, 2025

The New York Times this week shrieked about congressional republicans using what it called “an obscure law” and “a little-known statute” to rescind regulations adopted at the end of the Biden Administration. The article refers to the Congressional Review Act (CRA), which is neither “obscure” nor “little known,” though the reporter might be forgiven for […]

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Does the Government Still Need Reclamation?

May 9, 2025

My Grandpa once gave away a classic Model T. It would be valuable today, but he wasn’t using it and someone else was. In fact, it costs money to keep such things, so he just said, “I didn’t need it anymore.” If only the government were that wise. We have often discussed the Bureau of […]

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Colorado River: The Sky is Falling, Again

May 2, 2025

Every year for the past 25, at least, negotiating teams for the seven states on the Colorado River have worked to overcome a new crisis, invariably driven by two entities: the State of California and the federal Bureau of Reclamation (BOR). For a quarter-century, those teams have responded to federal pressure based on the dubious […]

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Washington Monument Syndrome Finally Cured

April 25, 2025

The Washington Monument, Washington, D.C.’s most recognizable landmark, attracted over 2 million visitors in 1966, 1 million in 1994, and less than 250,000 by 2024. The National Park Service’s timed ticket system makes visiting the Monument much harder for travelers, and the iconic structure is closed so often that it has become a symbol of […]

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We Built It, And They Still Won’t Come

April 18, 2025

Building a new subdivision is complicated. Almost every city and county in America have master plans dictating “conforming uses” of land. Most specify lot and home sizes, rules for vehicle access, water supply, sewage disposal, flood control, affordable housing, and park space. Those are addressed in lengthy application processes and public hearings, all preceding building […]

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