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National Parks Dodge Shutdown But What About State Parks?

The threat of a federal government shutdown, which included closing national parks, alerted many to the funding woes of national parks. But state parks may be more vulnerable. As Stephanie Simon pointed out in the Wall Street Journal on Saturday: Lawmakers in states including California, Washington and North Carolina are weighing budgets that would stripContinue reading “National Parks Dodge Shutdown But What About State Parks?”

U.S. can’t afford to scrap nuclear power

  By Andrew P. Morriss TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Despite the disaster at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power complex, eliminating the technology that provides 21 percent of the United States’ electricity and 14 percent of electricity worldwide would be dangerous and unrealistic. Our demand for electricity is largely met using coal, nuclear, large hydro, and naturalContinue reading “U.S. can’t afford to scrap nuclear power”

What is it about national energy policy?

by Pete Geddes I’m convinced that I have discovered a new social law. It seems to have the validity of Newton’s. Here it is: national energy policy causes IQs and body temperatures to converge, with the most rapid convergence occurring in the political arena, especially in a presidential election year. The Hoover Institution’s Richard Epstein’sContinue reading “What is it about national energy policy?”

The three paradoxes of water (and how to solve them)

Jamie Workman, a PERC enviropreneur alum, has an excellent four-part series at IUCN on the paradoxes of water. 1. The paradox of value: “Water is priceless in use yet worthless in exchange.” 2. The paradox of efficiency: “Your water-saving device increases our collective thirst.” 3. The paradox of monopoly: “Thriving urban waterworks must encourage and reward waste.” 4. Resolving the paradoxes:Continue reading “The three paradoxes of water (and how to solve them)”

Fahey on Fracking

by Laura E. Huggins PERC media fellow and AP energy writer Jonathan Fahey considers the positive side to fracking for oil. Companies are investing billions of dollars to get at oil deposits scattered across North Dakota, Colorado, Texas and California. By 2015, oil executives and analysts say, the new fields could yield as much asContinue reading “Fahey on Fracking”