PERC Reports offers optimism and encouragement to climate change doomsayers. PERC advocates free market solutions for environmental problems, finding solutions where others find only frustration. The current issue (Fall 2007) uncovers a reason for faith in capitalism, the system that PERC fellow Brian Yablonski argues has fostered the reemergence of the American bison through ranchingContinue reading “Opinions”
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Impressions
Up in Smoke “A problem that the Forest Service created—excess fuels—prevents appropriate burning, and so the problem grows. It is one of the great paradoxes of fire suppression that the more effective we are at fire suppression, the more fuels accumulate and the more intense the next fire will be.” —USDA Forest ServiceContinue reading “Impressions”
Montana Under Glass
All around Montana, broken beer and wine bottles are showing up on roads and walkways. Admittedly, these are not the sharp, jagged pieces normally associated with broken glass, but rather the pulverized variety giving the glass both the consistency and appearance of gravel with the added attraction of multicolors. A crusher turns the glass intoContinue reading “Montana Under Glass”
Those who pay have the say on public lands
Bozeman Chronicle December 3, 2007 By Terry L. Anderson Montanans are upset that 8 million acres of BLM lands rich in wildlife habitat and open for public access could be disturbed by energy development. So far this year, the federal government has held five sales, leasing nearly 640,000 acres of its Montana land for energyContinue reading “Those who pay have the say on public lands”
Tapping Our Ingenuity
News-Tribune November 25, 2007 As water becomes more scarce, we’re going to have to find a way to balance individual rights, market forces By James G. Workman Last January in Davos, Switzerland, the bullish World Economic Forum foresaw “no limits to growth” anywhere, but added a caveat concerning “the one place we don’t allow marketContinue reading “Tapping Our Ingenuity”
EconTalk: The Tragedy of the Commons and Environmental Regulation
PERC Senior Fellow Emeritus Bruce Yandle talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the tragedy of the commons and the various ways that people have avoided the overuse of resources that are held in common.
Forest Policy Up in Smoke:
DOWNLOAD THE FULL REPORT September 2007 By Alison Berry Abstract Forests evolved over millennia in the presence of fire, a vital ecological processfire returns nutrients to the soil and helps seedlings establish. In 1911 the United States Forest Service began to suppress all fires on American forests, resulting in dangerous accumulations of fuels. Conflagrations ofContinue reading “Forest Policy Up in Smoke:”
The Sky’s Not Falling: Why it’s Okay to Chill About Global Warming
Written especially for children ages 8 to 12, this book provides them the straight scoop about global warming – and the potentially devastating human and economic consequences of politically motivated responses to it.
U.S. Firefighting Policy,
Billings Gazette September 1, 2007 By Alison Berry BOZEMAN – Idaho, Utah, Oregon, Montana. Once again, the West wears a shroud of gray ugly smoke this summer. Huge, spectacular clouds of smoke billow thousands of feet into the sky and then settle into the valleys, the lives, and the lungs of all who live here.Continue reading “U.S. Firefighting Policy,”
Bisonomics
You’ve heard of Freakonomics — but what about Bisonomics? With their future now in the hands of eco-ranchers and market-minded preserves, the outlook for bison is promising.