Articles

"Peer review" – It's not what you think

May 03, 2010 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author: Reed Hopper There is a fundamental difference between research science and regulatory science–-time and money. While research scientists are generally free to pursue a line of inquiry to wherever it leads however long it takes, regulatory scientists do not have that luxury. To the contrary, to meet administrative deadlines and budgets, th ...

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Climate change and the San Diego Zoo

May 06, 2010 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author:  Damien M. Schiff Recently, I visited the San Diego Zoo.  While passing through the Zoo's polar bear exhibit, I came across the display below:  a not-so-subtle endorsement of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's listing of the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act. A quick bit of internet research revea ...

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Frank talk on climate change and Cancun

December 03, 2010 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author:  Damien M. Schiff Here's a forthright piece from the environmentalist camp giving ten reasons why the recently begun climate talks in Cancun will achieve nothing.  I found particularly interesting the author's discussion of the economic pros and cons of greenhouse gas regulation: 3. Environmentalists have been disingenuo ...

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Vivienne Westwood, climate change, and the fate of Los Angeles

April 07, 2011 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author:  Damien M. Schiff Celebrities are not known for the acuity of their political and scientific analyses, and Ms. Westwood, a world-renowned clothing designer, is no exception to that dictum.  Chicology reports that at the opening of her new LA boutique last week, Ms. Westwood declared that human beings are becoming an endangered s ...

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Science or storytelling?

April 20, 2011 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author: Daniel Himebaugh Anyone interested in the interplay of science, media, and public policy should check out Todd Myers' recent Environmental Watch.  Myers critiques a Seattle Times story which concluded that climate change is adversely affecting Costa Rican coffee yields, and driving up the price of lattes.  (Nothing captures ...

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Greenhouse gas rules up in the air

September 27, 2013 | By TONY FRANCOIS

Today is a big day for all things greenhouse gas, with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change releasing its Fifth Assessment Report.  Earlier this week, the similarly named (but differently purposed) Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change released its latest report, Climate Change Reconsidered II: Physical Science.  These tw ...

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Decision deadline on wolverine listing pushed back

February 06, 2014 | By DAMIEN SCHIFF

Earlier this week, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service re-opened the comment period and extended the deadline for acting on the agency’s proposal to list a distinct population segment of the North American wolverine under the Endangered Species Act.  Generally, the ESA requires that the Service finalize a listing proposal within one year, but ...

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A pretextual climate change report?

May 06, 2014 | By DAMIEN SCHIFF

This week, the Obama Administration released a National Climate Assessment that predicts dire consequences for the nation’s economy owing to global warming.  Here at Pacific Legal Foundation, we take no position on the scientific side of the climate change debate, but we do strongly believe that climate change should not be used as a pretext ...

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Why conservatives still hate environmentalism

September 28, 2015 | By TONY FRANCOIS

Pacific Legal Foundation does a lot of work protecting property owners from overbearing environmental regulation. Since that is how we roll, it was impossible not to notice the enthusiasm with which the environmental movement in the United States greeted last week’s visit of a certain world religious leader. PLF does not involve itself in re ...