Once-denuded slopes in the foothills of the Himalayas are showing signs of green again. In Nepal, local community groups are managing the forests, deriving income from the timber, and also protecting watersheds and a variety of rare birds, mammals, and flowering plants. In 1957, the government nationalized the forests, but it had neither the willContinue reading “Greening Nepal”
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Poverty, Wealth, and Waste
In 1986, a waste-to-energy plant opened in Delhi, India, financed by the Danish International Development Agency at a cost of over $10 million. The plant was expected to generate 3.8 megawatts of electricity from garbage, and its success was to be copied in other Indian cities. However, the plant was a failure. Two yearsContinue reading “Poverty, Wealth, and Waste”
The Greening of U.S. Foreign Policy
Terry L. Anderson and Henry I. Miller, M.D. Editors Since then Secretary of State Warren Christopher’s announcement in 1996 of an increased emphasis on environmental issues, the environmental movement has moved the policy agenda beyond local and even national boundaries into the foreign policy debate. In this book, a group of scholars takes a hardContinue reading “The Greening of U.S. Foreign Policy”
No ‘Commercialization’ of Yellowstone
Tiny microbes living in the mud-pots and geysers of Yellowstone National Park have sparked a mammoth controversy. Scientists think the genetic materials of these microbes could lead to medical breakthroughs or, at the very least, improve consumer products. In 1997, park officials signed an agreement with a corporation that had previously been prospecting the microbesContinue reading “No ‘Commercialization’ of Yellowstone”
The Lone Mountain Coalition
Jonathan Adler Arlington, Virginia Ryan Amacher, Ph.D. Department of Economics University of Texas, Arlington Terry Anderson, Ph.D. PERC/Hoover Institution Bozeman, Montana Angela Antonelli The Heritage Foundation Washington, DC John A. Baden, Ph.D. Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment (FREE) Bozeman, Montana Michael B. Barkey Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and LibertyContinue reading “The Lone Mountain Coalition”
Economic Growth is Good for Environmental Protection
Apple Daily, Hong Kong December 13, 1999 By Matthew Brown As increasing pressure from visiting business leaders and local citizens attests, Hong Kong, like all wealthy countries, is encountering fears over air quality, clean water, and waste disposal. To meet these challenges Hong Kong Chief Executive CH Tung has embraced the idea of “sustainableContinue reading “Economic Growth is Good for Environmental Protection”
Tantalizing Tamarins
In Brazil’s Atlantic coastal forest, farmers are finding they can make more money by protecting the trees than from agriculture. The golden lion tamarin, a rare monkey, makes its home in this forest and attracts ecotourists from around the world. Scientists have relocated monkeys who are barely surviving in small isolated forest patches to larger,Continue reading “Tantalizing Tamarins”
Ecosystem Management:
One of the Clinton administration’s first major environmental policy initiatives was to call for a shift to ecosystem management. In a nutshell, ecosystem management means that the federal government makes protection or restoration of the health, integrity, and sustainability of ecosystems the primary goal of its activities. The Forest Service, for example, now intends toContinue reading “Ecosystem Management:”
Driving and Density
One technique proposed for combating “urban sprawl” is increasing population densities. Government planners are beginning to require new residential developments to house more people per acre. Even existing low-density suburbs are supposed to be rebuilt to higher densities. The “smart growth” plan for Portland, Oregon, considered a model for anti-sprawl policies, calls for increasing theContinue reading “Driving and Density”
Land Trusts or Land Agents?
Celebrated by market enthusiasts and conservationists alike, land trusts have become the instrument of choice across the nation for conserving farmland, sensitive habitat, and open space. Recently, however, free market environmentalists have been raising a few questions about them. For years, friends of the market such as PERC associates have cheered trusts because of theContinue reading “Land Trusts or Land Agents?”