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. Writes Catrin Einhorn: “[C]ompanies and countries are increasingly investing in tree…
Search Results for: water
Does the State of Oregon Owe $1.1 Billion for Mismanaging Forests?
An extraordinary court case is proceeding in Oregon. In November a jury the state of Oregon should pay $1.1 billion to 13 counties and 151 taxing districts on the grounds that the state has failed to maximize timber harvests as required by a 1941 law. On February 22, the state Court of Appeals heard oral…
How Much Did Biden’s Energy Policies Add to Family Expenses?
“The average U.S. household in 2021 spent an extra $600 in higher gasoline costs and $70 in higher electricity costs due to the Biden administration’s energy policies,” write Linnea Lueken and James Taylor for the Heartland Institute. And that’s not all. “Further, households that use natural gas spent an extra $300, on average, and those…
Yosemite and the ‘Balance of Nature’ Myth
The following photographic essay illustrates the changing landscape at California’s Yosemite Valley and undermines the myth of a static “balance of nature.” The author, Shawn Regan, is vice president of research at the Property and Environment Research Center (PERC). The photograph above shows Yosemite Valley in 1899 (left) and today (right). If it seems like…
‘Negligible’ Fishermen Sue to Stop New England Wind Project
The long-planned Vineyard Wind 1 Project, to be located south of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket islands off the shore of Massachusetts, has hit turbulence again. In December, an arm of the Texas Public Policy Foundation sued the federal government on grounds that it was wrong to approve the project. The foundation is representing six fishing…
Is the Interior Department Leasing More Land for Oil and Gas than Trump Did?
An investigative report by Adam Federman in the Washington Post says that the Biden administration is issuing oil and gas permits at a rate faster than Trump did. “Between Jan. 20 and Oct. 31, the Bureau of Land Management [part of the Interior Department] approved 3,091 new onshore drilling permits—permits it could have deferred or…