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ENVIRONMENT

Exposing Climate Fictions

Exposing Climate Fictions

It seems like the real “climate deniers” are the people who keep repeating myths and ignoring facts. Here are some examples:

Polar bears are doing just fine: “The population has risen from around 12,000 in the 1960s to about 26,000.”

So is the Great Barrier Reef: For the past three years the Great Barrier Reef has had more coral cover than at any point since records began in 1986, with 2024 setting a new record.

So are the small Pacific islands:  Almost all atoll islands are stable or increasing in size. In fact, scientific literature has documented this for more than a decade.

Heat is not more dangerous than cold: In July, President Biden claimed “extreme heat is the No. 1 weather-related killer in the United States.” He is wrong by a factor of 25.

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The “Madness of Crowds”?

The “Madness of Crowds”?

Can history help us understand today’s panic over global warming? While the Earth is warming and human activity is probably contributing to it, the overheated efforts to make people fear the long-term future suggest that this is more of a crusade than a rationally considered enterprise. Extreme fear of global warming is negatively affecting politics, the economy, the media, international relations, and education.

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Economic Growth Theories Fall into the Dustbin of History (And That’s Okay)

Economic Growth Theories Fall into the Dustbin of History (And That’s Okay)

Economists like Samuelson failed to understand economic growth in developing countries. Unbeknownst to them, cost-reducing innovations in transportation and communication led to increased trade and lifted people out of poverty. The Industrial Revolution benefited only a small portion of the world. Trade spurred prosperity and development on its own.

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Conservation Leases? 

Conservation Leases? 

This guest post by Shawn Regan is a substantive analysis of the recent proposal by the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management to allow leasing of public land for conservation purposes. Regan is vice president of research at the Property and Environment...

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Economic Freedom IS good for the environment

Economic Freedom IS good for the environment

Yes, data from the Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy and the Fraser Institute’s Economic Freedom of the World Index send a resounding message: Economic freedom brings about environmental protection. Why? Because economic freedom leads to prosperity and only prosperous countries can truly protect their environment. Are you skeptical? More.

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Why California Needs Higher Prices for Water

Why California Needs Higher Prices for Water

California’s extreme drought will force rationing of water or higher prices, say John McKenzie and Richard McKenzie. Raising water prices has a great advantage: “Higher water prices can increase the state’s available water supply—without additional rainfall or...

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Should We Even Try to Recycle Plastics?

Should We Even Try to Recycle Plastics?

Pressuring plastic producers to recycle their products has gone on for decades. But two writers at the Atlantic have now concluded, “Plastic recycling does not work and will never work.” In the U.S. in 2021 only 5 percent of all post-consumer plastic was recycled. Furthermore, they say that the plastic producers deny this and those denials are “reminiscent of” the tobacco companies in making false claims. (For years, many tobacco firms  rejected the idea that cigarettes caused cancer.)

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What’s Wrong with Planting More Trees?

What’s Wrong with Planting More Trees?

Planting trees to sequester carbon and prevent carbon dioxide emissions has become very popular (whether it is accomplishing much or not). Now the New York Times reports that the effort to save the world is causing local ecological harm by bringing in non-native species.

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