Linda Platts

Mining the Waste

By some estimates, mining waste has polluted the headwaters of 40 percent of the West’s watersheds. Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth says that cleaning up as many as 38,000 abandoned mines on national forests is a high priority, but certainly not one that his agency can tackle on its own. Ironically, the Superfund law hasContinue reading "Mining the Waste"

Linda Platts

Coffee of the Highest Standard

If you are sipping a latte somewhere in the vast Starbucks empire, you can rest assured that the corporation is moving steadfastly toward more environmentally friendly practices. Chief Executive Orin Smith says he has launched an aggressive plan to ensure that coffee purchased by Starbucks comes from farms that follow strict rules to reduce deforestationContinue reading "Mining the Waste"

Linda Platts

Bamboo Sprouts in Mexico

Pioneer bamboo producers in Mexico are hoping to turn the tables on China and become one of the world’s largest producers of bamboo. Although the fact is not widely known, bamboo is actually a grass, which has long grown wild throughout many parts of Mexico. Bamboo is a versatile fiber that can be used inContinue reading "Mining the Waste"

Daniel Benjamin

The Dust Bowl Reconsidered

The Dust Bowl of the 1930s was one of the worst environmental crises to strike twentieth century North America. Severe drought and wind erosion ravaged the Great Plains for a decade. Yet there were comparable droughts in the 1950s and 1970s with no comparable degree of erosion. The mystery of the huge contrast between theContinue reading "Mining the Waste"

Iain Murray

Margaret Thatcher: A Free Market Environmentalist

Thatcher's environmental views from a new perspective.

G. Tracy Mehan III

Margaret Thatcher: A Conservative Environmentalist

Thatcher's environmental views, in retrospect.

Thomas Tanton

A Whirlwind of Troubles

Wind energy poses a wide range of difficulties.

Jonathan Adler

The Fable of Federal Regulation

Contrary to common perceptions, many measures of environmental quality were already improving prior to the advent of federal environmental laws.

A Letter to the Editor

Letter to the Editor, From Ben F. Vaughan IV.

Brian Yablonski

Valles Caldera National Preserve

The Valles Caldera National Preserve experiment includes a self-sustaining federal mandate. Time will tell if the public land managers can behave like free market environmentalists.