: PERC - The Property and Environment Research Center

perc

line

contact

new

Media fellow finds enviropreneur in PERC's backyard
Jon Fahey from Forbes magazine writes about Grasslands Renewable Energy, an aspiring energy generation and transmission startup in Bozeman.
Read Forbes

PERC Trustee Kim Dennis in the Wall Street Journal
Kim Dennis congratulates Warren Buffet and Bill Gates for their donations to charity, but points out they have done more to help humanity as businessmen than as philanthropists.
Read

Economist Demsetz takes issue with Coase theory

Mat Ridley

In a lecture sponsored by PERC, Harold Demsetz, professor emeritus of economics at UCLA, made a strong case for what he views as an error in a well known theory by Ronald Coase.
Watch the Video

How does PERC compare?
PERC compares itself to bigger, flashier environmental policy organizations. The results are looking good.
Take a look

Anderson speaks out on BP oil spill

If more lands were open to development, risky deep ocean drilling would not be necessary.
Read WSJ

Outdoor initiative puts feds in charge
This top-down approach does not give locals a voice in recreation decisions.
Read more

Recycling
PERC Sr. Fellow Dan Benjamin explains the myths of recycling.
Listen

Eminent domain and delegated power
The history of public domain in the US shows citizens repeatedly delegate the same powers and then repeatedly react with anger to its misuse.
Read more

Water Markets: Why Not More?
Scholars from several disciplines examine why water markets have not developed further than they have and explore how institutional and political barriers might be lowered.
Read more

Interior Dept. wasting public resources
Executive Director Terry Anderson criticized the Department of Interior for poor land stewardship and lack of return on billions of dollars in public resources.
Watch video

utah parks

PERC fellows win top book awards from Society of Environmental Journalists

James Workman and Robert Glennon, both former fellows, at PERC have won first and second place respectively at the Society for Environmental Journalists Rachel Carson Environmental Book Award. Workman explains the global water crisis through the eyes of the Bushmen of Botswana and Glennon puts America's water woes into perspective focusing on the Southwest.
Read more

	Utah Explores privatizing parks
The Utah Privatization Policy Board, chaired by PERC Senior Fellow Randy Simmons, has been exploring privatization for several months. Simmons would like to try a pilot project to see how private companies can manage six to eight state parks Read more

	Enviropreneur honored in global contest
Enviropreneur-in-Residence Paul Schwennesen has won an honorable mention in a global essay contest. More than 2,000 entries were submitted from around the world on the topic "The Morality of Profit." Read more

	Recycling myths revisited
Many insist that saving the environment requires mandatory recycling. PERC Senior Fellow Daniel Benjamin's careful analysis shows many of these claims are bogus and the recycling process often uses more resources than it saves. Read more

	Drop the starfish, you criminal
California is criminalizing recreation in state parks by issuing tickets to people without life jackets and inspecting coolers. The fines for these offenses go to the state where they might fund more state vigilance. Steve Greenhut, a former PERC media fellow, prefers his recreation unsupervised. Read more

	PERC Reports heralds 30 years of bold thinking in the environmental arena
The originators of free market environmentalism and the founders of PERC reflect back on their successes, their stumbles, the passion they see for a new approach to achieving environmental quality in the next generation. Read more

	National TV broadcasting led to increased social regulation
The rise of national markets associated with national TV networks led to the expansion of federal social regulation and a simultaneous decline of federal economic regulation. Read more Podcast

	National experts at property rights forum
Speakers at the Property Rights Forum sponsored by the PERC and the Montana Policy Institute included Randal O'Toole of Cato, Steve Hayward of the American Enterprise Institute and Terry Anderson of PERC. If you missed the conference or want a refresher— Watch speakers

	Beware unseen costs of expanding stream access
The loss of spawning habitat on the Mitchell Slough, once funded by private landowners, will drive down trout numbers in the Bitterroot’s main channel. Read more Watch

	Not the time to cap and trade
Reducing emissions through a cap-and-trade program would be costly and probably ineffective on a global scale, say PERC fellows Bruce Yandle and Jody Lipford. Instead, improve incentives for discovering new, cleaner technologies by eliminating the capital gains tax. Read more

roger meiners

Stimulus money for green jobs is flawed policy

Writing in the Wall Street Journal, PERC senior fellow Roger Meiners opposes stimulus money for green jobs pointing out that much of the "investment" creates low value at a high cost
Read more

National Parks: What is the future?

NPR's "To the Point" with Warren Olney finds that experts have different visions of the future and how to get there. Pete Geddes gives the PERC perspective.
Listen Listen Below:

This is the best of times
British author and zoologist Matt Ridley, who spoke at PERC in June, makes his case on the PBS News Hour that human beings have never been better off and the future will be even better.

"Bootleggers and Baptists"—Bruce Yandle explains his theory
Yandle developed a theoretical framework he called "bootleggers and Baptists" to help make sense of regulatory dynamics.
Watch video

Water Markets in
a New Age
Research just released on water markets for environmental quality addresses new opportunities and demands as well as old traditions and concerns.
Read more

Tapping our forests for green energy
Restoring forests can produce renewable biofuels. Is it the best of two worlds?
Read more

What's wrong with our federal lands?
PERC research associate Holly Fretwell discusses her new book documenting the failure of public land management.
Listen

PERC fellows win top book awards from Society of Environmental Journalists

Utah Explores privatizing parks

Enviropreneur honored in global contest

Recycling myths revisited

Drop the starfish, you criminal

PERC Reports heralds 30 years of bold thinking in the environmental arena

National TV broadcasting led to increased social regulation

National experts at property rights forum

Beware unseen costs of expanding stream access

Not the time to cap and trade