As Congress has ceded more and more power to the Executive Branch, it has become custom for policy to flip…
When federal regulations stymie efforts to recover formerly endangered species
One of the recurring conflicts under the Endangered Species Act is at what point a species should be delisted. If…
Unlike politics, property rights provide a firm foundation for conservation
In July, 2017, employees from the National Butterfly Center—a 100-acre butterfly preserve in South Texas owned and operated by a…
How should we think about wildfires?
Imagine if a factory periodically spewed massive amounts of pollution when its pollution control device failed, fouling the air and…
Markets, not ill-fitting regulatory mandates, are the solution to bycatch
Since Congress has not updated many federal environmental laws in decades, we’ve grown accustomed to federal agencies and courts twisting…
Mired in red tape: Pipeline case could upend Clean Water Act permitting
The federal Clean Water Act is a notoriously complex statute, imposing federal permitting on a wide variety of land uses,…
Five years after the Gold King mine spill, we still need reforms to cleanup abandoned mines
This week was the 5th anniversary of the Gold King mine spill, in which contractors working for the Environmental Protection…
Conserving habitat requires better incentives, not more regulatory mandates
Loss of habitat is one of the chief threats to endangered and threatened species. Consequently, the Endangered Species Act provides…
Appeals court: pipeline approval process can’t ignore property owners’ rights
Since the founding era, the Supreme Court has referred to the government’s power of eminent domain—the power to take private…
Supreme Court: Look to property rules to solve federal land conflicts
Since 2000, the growth of fracking for natural gas has fueled a pipeline boom to get the gas to market…
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