A small chocolate-brown mammal that inhabits the alpine reaches of Vancouver Island in western Canada has found a benefactor in what may be the nick of time. With just 40 Vancouver Island marmots known to exist in the wild and another 40 living in captivity, Gordon Blankenstein stepped forward to bankroll a private conservation effort.Continue reading “On the Brink”
Author Archives: admin
All Purpose Coconuts
A Thai farmer from a rural province south of Bangkok has found yet another use for the versatile coconut. Not only does its flesh provide food, its trunk supply wood, and its juice make a delicious drink, but now Kitti Maneesrikul is using its oil to fuel the family truck. High fuel costs andContinue reading “All Purpose Coconuts”
Slippery Slopes
More than 200 million impoverished people worldwide make their homes on hillsides. These hillsides are the source of some 20 percent of the world’s freshwater, and yet agricultural activities have resulted in vast deforestation and topsoil erosion. Since 1993, the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) based in Cali, Colombia, has been working with farmersContinue reading “Slippery Slopes”
Waste Not Want Not
Two companies that appear to have little in common have joined forces to build processing plants that will convert biomass to energy and create organic fertilizer at the same time. The plants will burn the waste to produce steam that can power electric generators. The leftover residue can be sold as fertilizer. The partners areContinue reading “Waste Not Want Not”
The Caribou Question
As politicians debate oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), public attention has turned to the caribou. Due to their large numbers, lengthy migrations, and importance to traditional Alaskan cultures, these ruminants are probably the most prominent animal species on the North Slope of Alaska. Opponents of oil exploration often evoke theContinue reading “The Caribou Question”
Arctic Expeditions of the 19th Century
Government-sponsored polar expeditions made fewer major discoveries introduced fewer innovations, lost more ships, and had more explorers die. Throughout the nineteenth century, Arctic exploration dominated popular culture in Europe and America, much as space exploration did in the twentieth century. Both quests involved competitive races for major geographic prizes; both led to fame and honorsContinue reading “Arctic Expeditions of the 19th Century”
Agriculture and the Environment
A look at the major environmental constraints that limit U.S. food production without necessarily improving environmental quality.
Pesticides and Property Rights
Two PERC researchers, reviewing the history of the banned pesticide DDT, have concluded that violation of private property rights lies at the heart of the conflict over DDT.
Is No Use Good Use?
Americans are on the fast track to land preservation as more and more federal land is set aside at an increasingly rapid pace. Now is the time to pause and ask if locking up great expanses of land provides the good stewardship that we want for our public lands.
Economic Growth and the State of Humanity
Economic Growth and the State of Humanity, by Indur M. Goklany, emulates and builds upon the contributions that Julian Simon made in reporting on the progress of humankind.