The Heartland Institute

Green jobs programs enacted by various states are causing economic harm on an economy-wide basis that outweighs the limited economic benefits within the “green” energy sector, according to a newly published study by the nonpartisan State Budget Solutions. Job Destruction Outweighs Creation The report, Green Jobs Don’t Grow on Trees ...

Kansas is the focus of a new land rush taking place in middle America. This time, it is not homesteaders or yeoman farmers grasping for the rich soil; it’s energy producers eager to tap abundant oil and natural gas resources through hydraulic fracturing (also known as fracking) techniques. In the process, jobs are being created ...

Kansas and Texas are leading a group of eight states suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over EPA’s planned implementation of the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule. The Cross-State rule will impose costly new restrictions on power plants in 27 states. EPA argues the new restrictions are necessary for states not targeted ...

Recent greenhouse gas emissions cuts reported by developed nations are illusory, a new peer-reviewed study has found, as many of the cuts have occurred simply as a result of industries relocating to developing nations such as China and India. Migrating Emissions As analysts and some politicians recognized when debating the Kyoto ...

Russia, Japan, and Canada announced at a late-May G8 summit they would not participate in an international treaty following up the Kyoto Protocol with new carbon dioxide cuts. In doing so, they joined the United States, which reiterated it would remain outside any such treaty. Kyoto’s Poor Results Although most developed nations ...

After conducting a comprehensive study of claims of natural gas production polluting a ranch owner s aquifer and drinking water, Colorado state regulators concluded the operations undertaken by Pioneer Natural Resources in Las Animas County, Colorado caused no negative water impacts. In a similar case, Texas state regulators absolved ...

The Kentucky Senate has approved a bill to end a moratorium on nuclear power plants being built in the state. The bill, sponsored by Bob Leeper (I-Paducah), passed the Senate on February 8 by a 31-5 vote. Kentucky state law currently prohibits nuclear power plants from being built in the state until the U.S. government opens ...

Lame duck Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell (D) has placed a moratorium on new natural gas leases on state forests lands. Rendell had previously supported new natural gas leases, but he decided to impose the moratorium after the state legislature declined to implement a hefty new severance tax he wanted. The Governor s actions ...

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has determined salmon genetically modified to grow to maturity faster than either wild or traditional farm-raised salmon are safe for human consumption and pose no threat to the environment. Aquabounty, the developer of the genetically modified salmon studied by FDA, has been trying ...

The New York Senate has passed a bill to impose a nine-month moratorium on granting new permits for natural gas production through hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in the state’s portion of the massive, multistate Marcellus shale rock formation. The bill passed by a 48-9 vote on August 4. Productive, Proven Technology Fracking ...