Publications -- Environment

Nov 12, 2001

BA #377 – Hunters: Founders and Leaders of Wildlife Conservation

The state of wildlife on the African continent today resembles that of wildlife in the United States in the late 19th century. African wildlife populations are declining as habitat is converted to farming, wildlife is competing with or preying on domestic livestock and wildlife pursuit is increasingly commercialized. But first in the United States and now in Africa, hunters have led the charge to conserve wildlife.

Aug 15, 2001

BA #368 – Saving Lives by Rejecting the Precautionary Principle

Many environmentalists, citing the adage "better safe than sorry," argue that the "precautionary principle" should govern policy making. By this, they mean that technology should not be used until or unless it can be shown to pose no threat to humans or the environment.

Feb 14, 2001

BA #348 – California's Electrical Mess: The Deregulation That Wasn't

In 1994 California enacted legislation intended to deregulate the electric power business in the state and establish a competitive market. By January 2001, flaws in the California approach had become evident with the state's utilities driven to the brink of bankruptcy and Californians suffering electricity shortages and blackouts.

Dec 20, 2000

BA #345 – Cooling Overheated Global Warming Rhetoric

The November 2000 negotiations at the Hague, Netherlands, on implementing the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on climate change took place against a backdrop of lobbying by environmental non-governmental organizations (NGOs). These NGOs used selective science and inaccurate news reports to demand that the United States accede to international demands for drastic, immediate action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, a closer look at the evidence shows that they downplayed uncertainties in the studies that they cited, and ignored other studies that cast doubts on the need for immediate emission cuts.

Aug 31, 2000

BA #338 – Private Wildlife Conservation

Government land use regulations in the United States discourage landowners from protecting wildlife. This is unfortunate, since private landowners control approximately 60 percent of the land base, and at least 80 percent of wildlife in the 48 contiguous states is dependent in whole or in part upon private land. The biggest threat to wildlife is loss of habitat. Without the cooperation of the private sector, public parks and wildlife refuges will become island ecosystems, and the future of animals existing on these lands will be in jeopardy.

Aug 31, 2000

BA #337 – The Warmest Year on Whose Record?

In January 1999 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced that 1998 was the "warmest year on record." A year earlier NOAA had declared 1997 the "warmest year on record." Then in January 2000 NOAA proclaimed 1999 the "second warmest year on record."

Aug 30, 2000

BA #336 – Banning Roads, Burning Forests

The fires that swept through Los Alamos National Laboratory during June 2000 illustrate much of what is wrong with federal land management. A series of bad decisions the United States Forest Service made concerning a prescribed burn (a fire set to reduce undergrowth and prevent future wildfires) at Bandelier National Monument resulted in a fire that raged out of control. As high winds combined with an overabundance of dead and dying wood, the fire incinerated everything in its path, including 400 homes.

Apr 25, 2000

BA #322 – Clearing the Air About the Bush Environmental Record

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee George W. Bush's environmental record as Texas governor has come under heightened scrutiny for two reasons. First, his record could indicate the types of policies he would pursue as president. Second, his likely opponent, Vice President Al Gore, is closely associated with environmental causes. Gore wrote a book warning of an impending environmental crisis, was chosen as President Clinton's running mate in 1992 largely to garner the environmental vote and is often touted as an environmental leader by groups pressing "green" issues.

Apr 10, 2000

BA #320 – Power For Sale

For most of the 20th century, electric power has been produced and sold by local monopoly utilities. Consumers were prohibited from buying power from rival producers and other sellers were prohibited from entering utilities' protected markets. Deregulation of other industries, such as long-distance telephone service and natural gas, has reduced prices and increased the variety and quality of services available. This has led to increasing pressure to deregulate the electric power industry.

Jan 31, 2000

BA #310 – Global Warming Politics: Are Tennessee and Texas Getting Hotter?

When James Hansen, director of NASA's Goddard Institute, testified before the Senate in 1988 that he was "99 percent" certain that human-caused greenhouse gases were changing the climate, Sen. (now Vice President) Al Gore took Hansen's argument seriously. In his book Earth in the Balance, Gore argued that human-caused global warming is the greatest threat facing civilization. In addition, the September 7th Washington Times reported that at Gore's 51st birthday party in 1999, he said his home state of Tennessee had warmed substantially since he was born. To prevent global warming, Gore advocates that the U.S. ratify a treaty that would reduce energy use and economic growth.