Cato on Campus - Natural & Physical Sciences: Environmental Studies

Keeping Our Cool: What to do About Global Warming

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 11:56:00 EDT

By Jim Manzi: "The loss of economic and technological development that would be required to eliminate literally all theorized climate change risk would cripple our ability to deal with virtually every other foreseeable and unforeseeable risk, not to mention our ability to lead productive and interesting lives in the meantime."

The Grand Exaggerator

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 18:47:00 EDT

By Patrick Michaels: "OK, it's pretty much standard rhetoric in Washington to say that if you don't do as I say, there will be massive consequences. But to say, as Gore recently did: 'The survival of the United States of America as we know it is at risk;' and: 'The future of human civilization is at stake' � that's a bit much, even for the most faded and jaded political junkie."

Fuel vs. Food

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 10:04:00 EDT

By Indur M. Goklany: "In recent years, we've heard that climate change could be catastrophic for nature and humanity. But it's becoming increasingly evident that over the next few decades, climate-change policies could prove even more catastrophic."

The Biofuel Brew Ha-Ha

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 14:58:00 EDT

By Peter Suderman: Reason contributor Peter Suderman writes that the biofuels craze is boosting the price of beer, because farmers are shifting away from barley to biofuel crops made more lucrative by mandates and subsidies.

The Ultimate Scholar

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 09:37:00 EST

By Donald J. Boudreaux: "Last Friday, Feb. 8, marked the 10th anniversary of the death of the great economist Julian Simon. Although he never received the professional or popular acclaim of economists such as Milton Friedman, Paul Samuelson or F.A. Hayek, Simon's insights and work rank with those of history's greatest social scientists."

Global Warming: Risks and Consequences

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 14:48:00 EST

"Last fall, at the Reason in DC conference, one of the most strongly attended and memorable panels was titled "Climate Change: Risks and Consequences" and featured Lynne Kiesling, a senior lecturer in economics at Northwestern University, proprietor of the blog Knowledge Problem, and an expert in retail electricity markets; Ronald Bailey, reason's longtime science correspondent and author of, among other books, Liberation Biology: The Moral and Scientific Case for the Biotech Revolution and ECOSCAM: The False Prophets of Environmental Apocalypse; and Fred L. Smith, Jr., the founder and president of Competitive Enterprise Institute."

Unintended Consequences

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 09:51:00 EST

By Stephen J. Dubner and Steven D. Levitt: "But with a government that is regularly begged for relief � these days, from mortgage woes, health-care costs and tax burdens � and with every presidential hopeful making daily promises to address these woes, it might be worth encouraging the winning candidate to think twice (or even 8 or 10 times) before rushing off to do good. Because if there is any law more powerful than the ones constructed in a place like Washington, it is the law of unintended consequences."

In 2008, a 100 Percent Chance of Alarm

Wed, 09 Jan 2008 16:33:00 EST

By John Tierney: "Today�s interpreters of the weather are what social scientists call availability entrepreneurs: the activists, journalists and publicity-savvy scientists who selectively monitor the globe looking for newsworthy evidence of a new form of sinfulness, burning fossil fuels."

Not So Hot

Mon, 31 Dec 2007 15:13:00 EST

By Patrick J. Michaels: "If a scientific paper appeared in a major journal saying that the planet has warmed twice as much as previously thought, that would be front-page news in every major paper around the planet. But what would happen if a paper was published demonstrating that the planet may have warmed up only half as much as previously thought?"

The Great Global Warming Swindle

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 08:44:00 EST

"The most disturbing part of the movie, and what makes it worth spending the hour-plus to watch it, is the way it portrays the momentum of the global warming crusade. When you have lots and lots of people heavily invested in a point of view, how can they possibly change?" - Arnold Kling

35 Inconvenient Truths

Thu, 01 Nov 2007 21:21:00 EDT

We now itemize 35 of the scientific errors and exaggerations in Al Gore�s movie. The first nine were listed by the judge in the High Court in London in October 2007 as being �errors.� The remaining 26 errors are just as inaccurate or exaggerated as the nine spelt out by the judge, who made it plain during the proceedings that the Court had not had time to consider more than these few errors. The judge found these errors serious enough to require the UK Government to pay substantial costs to the plaintiff.

The Tragedy of the Commons and the Implications for Environmental Regulation

Thu, 01 Nov 2007 18:58:00 EDT

Bruce Yandle of Clemson University and George Mason University's Mercatus Center looks at the tragedy of the commons and the various ways that people have avoided the overuse of resources that are held in common.

Green Self-Fulfilling Prophecies

Thu, 01 Nov 2007 16:44:00 EDT

By Roger Bate: "There is little more annoying for a policy analyst than when two types of wrong-headedness conspire to undermine his case. Such is the case for policies driven by the pursuit of a pesticide free -- or at least pesticide diminished -- future, which will cause an increase in insect-borne disease. "

Our Priorities for Saving the World

Tue, 23 Oct 2007 13:24:00 EDT

By Bjorn Lomburg : "Given $50 billion to spend, which would you solve first, AIDS or global warming? Danish political scientist Bjorn Lomborg put this question to economists and students around the world, and the answers they came up with may surprise you. Ranking our toughest problems not on any moral scale but simply by how effectively they can be solved, Lomborg and his colleagues demand we take a fresh look at doing good."

Chill Out

Thu, 18 Oct 2007 15:58:00 EDT

By Bjorn Lomborg: "The discussion about climate change has turned into a nasty dustup, with one side arguing that we're headed for catastrophe and the other maintaining that it's all a hoax. I say that neither is right. It's wrong to deny the obvious: The Earth is warming, and we're causing it. But that's not the whole story, and predictions of impending disaster just don't stack up."

Gore's Noble Challenge

Mon, 15 Oct 2007 07:33:00 EDT

By Patrick J. Michaels: "Where else -- except perhaps via the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, which Gore negotiated -- can someone accomplish so little while spending so much? But, to get there, or at least to the Demo nomination, Gore's going to have to do something he has assiduously avoided: debate."

The Double Standard in Environmental Science

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 16:56:00 EDT

By Stanley W. Trimble: "My experience suggested to me that ideology, not science, had established a significant grip on the top scientific press. This article attempts to portray the emotionalism, exaggeration, and even ideological viciousness � qualities that to me define extremism � that have invaded the field of environmental science."

Global Warming: No Urgent Danger; No Quick Fix

Tue, 25 Sep 2007 20:44:00 EDT

"Fact: The average surface temperature of the Earth is about 0.8 C warmer than it was in 1900, and human beings have something to do with it. But does that portend an unmitigated disaster? Can we do anything meaningful about it at this time? And if we can't, what should or can we do in the future?"

Taming the Hurricane

Tue, 25 Sep 2007 20:35:00 EDT

"Anyone concerned about climate change should take a lesson from Hurricane Dean. Even if storms like this become more frequent in the future, people will adapt and survive if they have the financial resources. How silly it seems to take those resources away in futile attempts to "stop global warming""

Is the Sky Really Falling? A Review of Recent Global Warming Scare Stories

Tue, 25 Sep 2007 20:30:00 EDT

By Patrick J. Michaels: "Reports of rapid disintegration of Greenland�s ice ignore the fact that the region was warmer than it is now for several decades in the early 20th century, before humans could have had much influence on climate."

The Common Law: How it protects the environment

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EDT

"The purpose of this PERC Policy Series paper is to show, by examining specific cases in American and English history, that strong legal traditions enabled ordinary citizens to protect their air, land, and water, often against politically potent parties."

A Better Way to Protect Endangered Species

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Laura E. Huggins argues that for wildlife conservation to be successful, negative restrictions on landowners must be replaced with positive incentives.