Opinion
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Arctic Sea Ice Continues to Rebound
Opinion -Summer ice in the Arctic Ocean continues to rebound from the abnormally low 2007 season, when a shift in regional wind patterns sent much of the sea ice south into the North Atlantic Ocean. -
Austin Consumers Avoid Pricey Renewable Power
Opinion -Austin Energy, a publicly owned power company and a city department of Austin, Texas, has found itself stuck with surplus renewable power as city residents have declined to sign up for higher rates under the city’s voluntary GreenChoice program. -
Why Pennsylvania’s Sen. Casey Is Wrong on Cap-and-Trade
Opinion -Sen. Bob Casey Jr. (D-PA) wrote the following letter to a constituent attempting to justify his support for cap-and-trade legislation similar to a bill that recently was passed by the House. -
Court Bans Exclusive Deals Between Cable Providers, Condo Associations
Opinion -Condominium residents may soon have more options among cable providers because of a recent federal court decision, but that could come at the price of government micromanaging of contracts between cable companies and potential customers.In May the U.S. -
New York’s Suffolk County Levies Cell Phone Tax
Opinion -Suffolk County in New York State has decided to impose a new tax on cell phone use as part of an effort to increase revenue. -
Senators: Ban Texting While Driving or Lose Highway Funds
Opinion -In the wake of a new study on the dangers of texting while driving, four Democratic senators propose compelling states to ban the practice or lose a huge chunk of federal highway funds. -
U.S. Air Quality Continues to Improve
Opinion -Sulfur dioxide emissions from U.S. power plants have fallen sharply this year, according to a recent report by energy research firm Genscape. Emissions of other pollutants have dropped as well. -
New North Dakota Oil Find Could Be a Gusher
Opinion -Dozens of very productive new wells near North Dakota’s Bakken oil field have state officials believing another massive new oil find may be at hand. -
Wyoming Protects Sage Grouse from Wind Farms
Opinion -The state of Wyoming is unlikely to allow a pilot wind power program to determine the effects of wind farms on core sage grouse populations, state officials report. -
Should Government Try to Reduce Energy Price Volatility?
Opinion -The leaders of the world have declared war on speculation. The Obama administration’s Commodity Futures Trading Commission is considering position limits on the trading of energy contracts. U.K. -
2009 October Finance, Insurance & Real Estate News: Texas Windstorm Fund ‘Broke’
Opinion -The October 2009 issue of Finance, Insurance & Real Estate News, a monthly insert in Budget & Tax News, reports that Texas is a model of fiscal stability compared to most other states—with one glaring exception: It’s one hurricane away from -
Chicago Transit Authority Sued for Ad Ban
Opinion -A video game industry group is suing the Chicago Transit Authority for banning advertising of video games labeled “mature.” The plaintiffs argue the policy is a violation of game companies’ First Amendment speech rights. -
Indiana Embraces Online Education
Opinion -Indiana has opened the door to full-time virtual schooling, giving a limited number of families access to a new educational choice.A two-year virtual charter school pilot program was adopted as part of last-minute state budget negotiations this summer. -
Catholic Schools in Maryland Blame Government for Closings
Opinion -As the new school year began, many Maryland students weren’t able to return to their Catholic schools. Six Catholic schools shut their doors for the 2009-10 school year in response to the poor economy and financial hardships. -
Nevada School District Hostile to Transparency
Opinion -Trustees of Nevada’s Clark County School District have established a pattern of circumventing the state’s open-meeting laws and defying ongoing calls for greater transparency in government in Nevada and across the nation. -
Think Tank Grades Washington State Schools
Opinion -A think tank based in Washington State has started a new Report Cards project, rating and ranking schools in order to provide parents easily accessible information and give the public objective information about schools. -
Alcohol Tax Is Not The Answer to Drunken Driving
Opinion -Reducing the number of DUIs and lives lost to alcohol-related incidents is a valid goal but why must taxes be raised to achieve it? -
Supreme Court to Decide Chicago Gun Case
Opinion -The U.S. Supreme Court today (9-30) agreed to hear an important Second Amendment case challenging the constitutionality of Chicago's gun ban ordinance.Last year the Supreme Court ruled in District of Columbia v. -
FCC Chairman Plans Net Neutrality Mandate
Opinion -Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski will seek to give “net neutrality” guidelines the force of law by making it an official rule the broadband and wireless industries must follow. -
Hockey Stick Is Dead
Opinion -One of the most notorious and phony pieces of data underlying global warming alarmism – the “hockey stick” graph – has been shattered in a posting today on the World Wide Web.In 1998, Dr. -
Senator Pledges Probe of Alleged Cell Phone, Cancer Links
Opinion -A U.S. senator promises to keep investigating whether cell phone use can cause cancer, despite decades of research that shows no danger.Sen. -
Lawsuit Abuse Fortnightly #8-18
Opinion -Heated ArgumentA property investment firm in the U.K. is under attack by government regulators for discriminating against an employee on grounds akin to religious discrimination when it allegedly fired him because he believes in manmade global warming. -
The Central Planning Failure of the Sears Centre
Opinion -By Steve StanekCentral planning failed in the Soviet Union, is still failing in Cuba, and is being phased out in China, but it apparently remains alive—though not well—in Hoffman Estates. -
Cigarette Tax Ruse
Opinion -RE: "Tax on tobacco can save lives," Editorial, Sept. 9, 2009Florida taxpayers should be forewarned that the huge drop in cigarette sales due to the state's cigarette tax hike will come back to bite them.