Environment
Commentary
Despite our efforts, it’s hard to keep nature down
The Laotian rock rat isn’t a rat at all. It’s a squirrel that walks upright on its hind legs and lives in limestone crevices rather than in trees. Based on the rock rat’s fossil record, scientists concluded that it went extinct 11 million years ago, more or less. Thus it ...
Commentary
Global warming plan is pie in sky
Whenever you hear a politician start a sentence with, “If we can put a man on the moon… ,” grab your wallet. For years, Democrats, enthralled by the cargo cult of the Kennedy presidency, have used the moon landing as proof that no big government ambition is beyond our reach. ...
Agriculture
Analyzing the politics of climate change
San Francisco Examiner, June 9, 2009 We hear it every day. News headlines read: “Global Warming Biggest Threat of 21st Century, Experts say.” (businessweek.com. May 13th, 2009. Gardner, Amanda). News anchors provide us with a choice, either we believe the scientists that support global warming hypotheses, or we reject science ...
Business & Economics
California’s Economy: Boxer And Krugman Get It Wrong
New York Times columnist Paul Krugman argued in a May 25th column that California’s economic problems are rooted in a dysfunctional government that finds it “extremely hard to raise taxes, even in emergencies.” On May 28, California’s junior Senator, Barbara Boxer made a similar argument on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. Both ...
Commentary
Canadians seeking health care have a ‘wait problem’
Washington Examiner (Washington, DC), June 3, 2009 First of a two-part series It’s the start of what promises to be a beautiful spring day. But not for you. As the first rays of sunshine filter through your bedroom window, a searing pain settles into your head. You pop an aspirin ...
Commentary
The End of Medical Miracles?
Scientific discoveries are neither inevitable nor predictable Americans have, at best, a love-hate relationship with the life-sciences industry—the term for the sector of the economy that produces pharmaceuticals, biologics (like vaccines), and medical devices. These days, the mere mention of a pharmaceutical manufacturer seems to elicit gut-level hostility. Journalists, operating ...
Commentary
Celebrate the Cuyahoga’s Comeback
This year is the 40th anniversary of the Cuyahoga River fire, an event that has come to symbolize environmental degradation. The current condition of the river symbolizes something else worth recalling in the wake of Earth Day — environmental improvement, from abysmal conditions. On June 22, 1969, an oil slick ...
Climate Change
Unilateral or Worldwide, Waxman-Markey Fails Standard Cost/Benefit Tests (CO2 “leakage” makes bad even worse)
Master Resource, May 27, 2009 Jim Manzi has a very good post introducing the analysis of costs and benefits of Waxman-Markey. Here I want to follow up on Manzi’s great start, by showing that Chip Knappenberger’s estimate of the climate benefits of Waxman-Markey (W-M) actually erred on the side of ...
Health Care
Testimony of John R. Graham, Director of Health Care Studies, Pacific Research Institute to Arizona House Health & Human Services
Thank you for inviting me here today to speak about the importance of the Arizona Health Care Freedom Act, HCR 2014. I believe that this bill is critical to Arizonans’ individual choice in health care, and a bulwark against undue government control of their access to health services. I am ...
Environment
Who Pays?
“When Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and lawmakers worked throughout 2006 to craft AB 32 – the state’s landmark legislation targeting the emissions that contribute to global warming – they repeatedly emphasized their intent to implement the new law with as little economic disruption as possible. Critics questioned how this would be ...
Despite our efforts, it’s hard to keep nature down
The Laotian rock rat isn’t a rat at all. It’s a squirrel that walks upright on its hind legs and lives in limestone crevices rather than in trees. Based on the rock rat’s fossil record, scientists concluded that it went extinct 11 million years ago, more or less. Thus it ...
Global warming plan is pie in sky
Whenever you hear a politician start a sentence with, “If we can put a man on the moon… ,” grab your wallet. For years, Democrats, enthralled by the cargo cult of the Kennedy presidency, have used the moon landing as proof that no big government ambition is beyond our reach. ...
Analyzing the politics of climate change
San Francisco Examiner, June 9, 2009 We hear it every day. News headlines read: “Global Warming Biggest Threat of 21st Century, Experts say.” (businessweek.com. May 13th, 2009. Gardner, Amanda). News anchors provide us with a choice, either we believe the scientists that support global warming hypotheses, or we reject science ...
California’s Economy: Boxer And Krugman Get It Wrong
New York Times columnist Paul Krugman argued in a May 25th column that California’s economic problems are rooted in a dysfunctional government that finds it “extremely hard to raise taxes, even in emergencies.” On May 28, California’s junior Senator, Barbara Boxer made a similar argument on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. Both ...
Canadians seeking health care have a ‘wait problem’
Washington Examiner (Washington, DC), June 3, 2009 First of a two-part series It’s the start of what promises to be a beautiful spring day. But not for you. As the first rays of sunshine filter through your bedroom window, a searing pain settles into your head. You pop an aspirin ...
The End of Medical Miracles?
Scientific discoveries are neither inevitable nor predictable Americans have, at best, a love-hate relationship with the life-sciences industry—the term for the sector of the economy that produces pharmaceuticals, biologics (like vaccines), and medical devices. These days, the mere mention of a pharmaceutical manufacturer seems to elicit gut-level hostility. Journalists, operating ...
Celebrate the Cuyahoga’s Comeback
This year is the 40th anniversary of the Cuyahoga River fire, an event that has come to symbolize environmental degradation. The current condition of the river symbolizes something else worth recalling in the wake of Earth Day — environmental improvement, from abysmal conditions. On June 22, 1969, an oil slick ...
Unilateral or Worldwide, Waxman-Markey Fails Standard Cost/Benefit Tests (CO2 “leakage” makes bad even worse)
Master Resource, May 27, 2009 Jim Manzi has a very good post introducing the analysis of costs and benefits of Waxman-Markey. Here I want to follow up on Manzi’s great start, by showing that Chip Knappenberger’s estimate of the climate benefits of Waxman-Markey (W-M) actually erred on the side of ...
Testimony of John R. Graham, Director of Health Care Studies, Pacific Research Institute to Arizona House Health & Human Services
Thank you for inviting me here today to speak about the importance of the Arizona Health Care Freedom Act, HCR 2014. I believe that this bill is critical to Arizonans’ individual choice in health care, and a bulwark against undue government control of their access to health services. I am ...
Who Pays?
“When Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and lawmakers worked throughout 2006 to craft AB 32 – the state’s landmark legislation targeting the emissions that contribute to global warming – they repeatedly emphasized their intent to implement the new law with as little economic disruption as possible. Critics questioned how this would be ...
