By Matthew Kahn In Climatopolis, I argue that urban growth will help us to adapt to climate change. Cities make us richer (due to trade, learning and specialization) and income will help people to adapt to the challenge of climate change. Productivity in cities takes place indoors and is more immune to climate conditions thanContinue reading “Rural areas most vulnerable to climate change”
Types Archives
Does the government perpetuate American Indian poverty?
Fox Business News correspondent John Stossel ignited a fire under many viewers when he accused American Indians of being government freeloaders. He returned to that issue in early May with a debate between PERC’s Terry Anderson and Indian activist Elizabeth Homer. Anderson is a noted expert on Indian economies. He points an accusing finger at the governmentContinue reading “Does the government perpetuate American Indian poverty?”
Politics of Endangered Species
Buried in the continuing resolution funding the federal government for the remainder of 2011 is a rider that delists the gray wolf as an endangered species in Montana and Idaho. The rider had bipartisan sponsorship from Sen. Jon Tester, Montana Democrat, and Rep. Michael K. Simpson, Idaho Republican, but the public reaction is anything butContinue reading “Politics of Endangered Species”
Beware the Siren Song of Green Political Activism
Green activism is often a threat to the very environment that activists are trying to save.
2011 PERC Fellows
Each summer, PERC awards fellowships to scholars, journalists, business people and environmentalists from around the world who are engaged with the same ideas and approaches to conservation as PERC. Their particular interests vary widely, including forestry, fisheries, ecosystem services, climate change, conservation easements, energy development as well as many other topics. Fellows are expected to spendContinue reading “2011 PERC Fellows”
Basic economics can preserve the environment
The industrial revolution that began about 200 years ago has changed humanity’s relation to, and attitudes about, nature completely—and sometimes it has generated new views about God and nature, such as from the Transcendentalists of the 19th century. In the first half of the 19th century, Alexis de Tocqueville reflected that in America, civilization endedContinue reading “Basic economics can preserve the environment”
Renewables are a costly shot in the dark
PERC’s Roger Meiners writes that calls for massive changes in all aspects of modern life from transportation to food production in
order to reduce carbon emissions are unrealistic. Repeated failures of such utopian experiments suggests extreme caution.
Montana consultant helps clients enter the water market
In Montana, enviropreneurs like Chris Corbin are creating a water market by helping owners identify and vaule their water rights and sell them.
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”
Debunking myths about free-market environmentalism
Originally published at Grist. A recent post on Grist attempted to dismantle the intellectual foundations of free-market environmentalism — the application of markets and property rights to solve environmental problems. But far from toppling a burgeoning movement within modern environmentalism, it succeeded only in misrepresenting the subject. To recap: Clark Williams-Derry claimed that while free-marketContinue reading “Debunking myths about free-market environmentalism”