Publications -- Environment

Oct 14, 1999

BA #305 – Portland: Smart Growth's Bad Example

City officials and planners from all over the world are traveling to Portland, Ore., for a first hand look at the municipal pioneer of Smart Growth (also known as the New Urbanism), the latest fad in urban planning. Smart Growth promises less congestion, less air pollution, reduced infrastructure costs, more affordable housing and protection of open space through six basic policies...

Jun 30, 1999

BA #299 – The Collapsing Scientific Cornerstones of Global Warming Theory

In 1988, James Hansen, director of NASA's Goddard Institute of Space Studies, testified before the Senate that based on computer models and temperature measurements he was "99 percent sure . . the [human caused] greenhouse effect has been detected and it is changing our climate now."

Jun 30, 1999

BA #298 – Dispelling The Myth Of A Cost-Free Global Warming Treaty

The Clinton/Gore administration negotiated a treaty in December 1997 in Kyoto, Japan, that would require the United States and most other industrialized countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to slow global warming. The U.S. committed to reducing its annual greenhouse gas emissions, mostly carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) from fossil fuel use, by about 40 percent - to 7 percent below its 1990 level - between 2008 and 2012.

Mar 24, 1999

BA #287 – The Truth about Urban Sprawl

Urban sprawl has sparked a national debate over land-use policy. At least 19 states have established either state growth-management laws or task forces to protect farmland and open space. Dozens of cities and counties have adopted urban growth boundaries to contain development in existing areas and prevent the spread of urbanization to outlying and rural areas. The Clinton administration has proposed to make urban sprawl a federal issue.

Oct 09, 1998

BA #282 – Sea Levels and Global Warming

The Clinton administration has committed to signing- but the Senate has yet to ratify - the Kyoto Treaty, which would impose legally binding, internationally enforceable limits on the production of greenhouse gases, primarily carbon dioxide (CO2). Supporters of the treaty believe that human-caused gases are causing environmentally disastrous global warming and that only immediate government action can avert catastrophe.

Oct 09, 1998

BA #281 – Let States Manage National Forests

The United States Forest Service (USFS) is under fire from both fiscal conservatives and liberal environmentalists - two groups not often on the same side of issues. Fiscal conservatives decry the agency's spendthrift ways and money-losing programs. Environmentalists claim that its logging, mining and grazing programs damage the natural world. Both groups are correct.

Aug 06, 1998

BA #276 – The Endangered Species Act: First Step toward Fixing a Costly Failure

Declaring that "The Endangered Species Act works," Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt has announced that within the next two years the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) will remove (delist) 33 species from the endangered species list. His claim comes as the ESA is being considered for renewal - the law authorizing it having lapsed in 1992. These 33 delistings will mean that a total of 60 species have been removed from the endangered species list.

Aug 06, 1998

BA #277 – Is the Global Warming Treaty a Threat to National Security?

Most environmentalists, some scientists, President Clinton and Vice President Gore have blamed global warming and all manner of natural catastrophes - hurricanes, floods and even El Niño - on rising levels of greenhouse gases, due primarily to fossil fuel use. On this theory, since most of the increased emissions come from energy use, we must use less energy to reduce the likelihood of environmental apocalypse. However, many scientists are skeptical of the theory that humans are causing global warming.

Jun 09, 1998

BA #269 – Taxing the Poor

In its haste to enact one of the largest tax increases in U.S. history, Congress has done precious little analysis of the social and economic impact of the proposed tobacco bill.

Mar 01, 1998

ST #214 – Misconceptions About Environmental Pollution, Pesticides and the Causes of Cancer

Various misconceptions about the relationship between environmental pollution and human disease, particularly cancer, drive regulatory policy. In this paper, we highlight 10 such misconceptions and briefly present the scientific evidence that undermines each.