There is a stirring in the body politic. Articles appearing in Time, Fortune, American Conservative, Eugene Register-Guard etc. talking about peak oil. Ask Google about peak oil and it offers thirteen and half million places to go.. Looking at the first few offerings and you will be assured sky is falling. What’s to [...]

As we all already know, Measure 37 is now law:
Over 66,000 acres—more than three times the size of Crater Lake National Park—are affected by Measure 37 claims. As of October 25, 2005, the State had received 1255 claims. Over 85% of the claims submitted to the State are for subdivisions and other land divisions, and [...]

Every so often I come across letters to the editor of the Oregonian that complain about government regulations on business and how those regulations are stifling. Often letter writers claim that in the end, consumers have to pay more for products and services due to the increased expense of regulations. I won’t argue [...]

I’ve blogged about this on Daily Kos and Land Use Watch, but it is important enough to highlight again and again.
Bush wants to privatize hundreds of thousands of acres of national forest. According to the forest service (and the pandering Oregonian), this land has no value.
But wait…
It turns out that part of the land [...]

President Bush’s budget proposal calls for raising more than $1 billion over five years by selling off public lands deemed to have little scenic, recreational or resource value [...]
In surely one of the most obscene gestures of this Administration, the current budget proposal calls for selling off hundreds of thousands of acres of public land. [...]

A nice “thumbnail” piece from New West Network on the Oregon Apollo initiative (pdf):
1. The goals are worthy; indeed, getting America off its IV-feed of Middle Eastern oil is geopolitically, environmentally and economically critical. We need to do this. Absent significant national leadership (I’m talking to you, Mr. Prez and 535 Congressmen), state efforts are [...]

From the sometimes sober Oregonian editorial board:
Too often, the argument over property rights takes place in a vacuum, as if governments could afford to extend roads and sewers, willy-nilly, to meet growth wherever it happens. Taxpayers can’t afford it.
Reality check for the pro-sprawler/anti-tax types…