The Heartland Institute

A state judge has struck down a license for a uranium mill issued by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. In his much-anticipated ruling, Denver District Judge John McMullen said CDPHE did not allow adequate public comment before issuing a license to Energy Fuels, Inc. to operate the mill in rural Paradox ...

Is there any high-speed rail boondoggle big enough to make rail transport advocates reject it? Sadly, for all too many of them the answer is no, as two recent developments make clear. The first is in California, where the state continues to press forward on a high-speed rail plan that could cost anywhere from $68 billion ...

Two wrongs may not make a right, but a second dose of poison might just cure the first dose. That’s at least what Paul Krugman, America’s most prominent left-wing economic pundit, is saying about an untapped remedy for our economic woes. In his April 5 New York Times column, “Not Enough Inflation,” Krugman repeated his claim ...

Pennsylvania lawmakers approved a large increase to the state's popular tax-credit scholarship program, but continue to shy away from vouchers despite an amenable constitution and Republican majority. What's the holdup? Priya Abraham, a senior policy analyst at the Commonwealth Foundation in Harrisburg, joins the School Reform ...

The U.S. Department of Education granted Alaska a No Child Left Behind waiver , though the state has not adopted the required Common Core standards. The D.C. council should be careful about meddling with schools , opines the Washington Post. Los Angeles school district officials are fighting a court order requiring the district ...

Few recent topics have engendered as much virulent discussion and debate as hydraulic fracturing (“fracing”) – the high-pressure injection of fluid into deep wells to fracture shale rock holding natural gas. Proponents, including the Obama Administration, hail fracing’s potential to reduce America’s dependence on foreign energy sources ...

Surging interest in U.S. history and government among citizens has recently followed decades of lackluster civic education and test results. Recent data is dismal. On the 2010 National Assessment of Educational Progress, 24 percent of seniors rated proficient in civics, while fourth and eighth grader proficiency also ranged between ...

“What’s in a name?” asked Juliet of her dear, sweet Romeo. It was a fitting question, as the eternal conflict between the Montagues and Capulets stemmed not from any real or qualitative differences, but rather from simple family tradition. Tensions borne of simple misperceptions can and often do eventually subside, but traditions ...

A new catch phrase is making the rounds among global warming alarmists and their media allies. Every time a fire breaks out somewhere or a summer heat wave occurs, the media quotes some longtime alarmist “scientist” saying, “This is what global warming looks like.” A quick look at the two most prominent such assertions this ...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is grossly overstating the economic benefits of its various environmental restrictions, environmental expert Richard Trzupek told the Energy and Environment Subcommittee of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. Trzupek, a chemist and environmental consultant, told the House subcommittee ...

The Internal Revenue Service held a hearing Monday on a proposed pension rule change that could kick approximately 90,000 charter school teachers out of state pensions. “The IRS panel members were very clear that this is about listening and hearing from us,” said Renita Thukral, legal counsel for the National Association for ...

For insurers, the most salient fact about tobacco use can be summarized simply: overwhelming scientificevidence indicates that all widely used forms of tobacco harm human health. A significant body of evidence also indicates tobacco use correlates strongly with other risky behaviors. According to the Centers for Disease Control ...

The production of oil and natural gas through hydraulic fracturing methods creates only a low risk for inducing earthquakes that can be felt by people, the National Research Council, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences, concludes in a new study. Only a very small fraction of natural resource extraction activities has ...

Oregon Fish and Wildlife officials are seeking federal approval to kill protected marine birds to protect juvenile salmon. Harassment Not WorkingIn an April 5 letter to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Oregon Fish and Wildlife division administrator Ron Anglin reported current efforts to protect juvenile salmon through harassment ...

President Barack Obama has signed into law a five-year extension of the National Flood Insurance Program that includes a number of important reforms that program critics believe could improve its financial performance and reduce environmental harm. The flood insurance reform comes as part of a bill that also extends federal highway ...

The State National Bank of Big Spring, Texas, has filed a lawsuit asking the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to hear its case challenging the constitutionality of provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The Competitive Enterprise Institute and the 60 Plus Association are ...

President Barack Obama has asked Congress to take up legislation that extends for one year the Bush-era tax rates for families earning less than $250,000 annually. Republican leaders pledged to take up legislation to extend the lower tax rates for everyone, including those earning more than $250,000. In comments from the White ...

Stockton, California, has gone into bankruptcy, making this city of 300,000 residents the nation’s largest city to seek protection under the U.S. bankruptcy code. The Stockton City Council voted 6-1 on June 26 to adopt a spending plan for operating under bankruptcy protection, and to file a motion with the courts to enter ...

Palm Beach County has allocated $200,000 of taxpayer money to hire a staffer to address global warming. County officials created the position despite a $15 million county budget deficit. Think Globally, Pay Locally The new global warming czar will direct the county’s efforts to reduce global temperature increases and adapt to ...

Fish and wildlife officials in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington may continue killing California sea lions preying on salmon near the Bonneville Dam, a federal district court has ruled. The court’s decision is a defeat for the Humane Society, which had sought an immediate injunction against the states. Male California sea lions gathered ...