Articles written by Pete Geddes

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About me - Pete Geddes

In 2005 Pete was named executive vice president of the Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment (FREE). From 1996 to 2004 he was FREE's program director.

Pete is responsible for daily management of FREE, for setting strategic direction, developing

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Politics, News & Issues > Politics, News & Issues (Other) Microcredit helps the world's poorest people: 1 of 4

Two thirds of the world's poorest countries are in Africa. It's home to 34 of the 35 states with the lowest life expectancy. More than 300 million people survive there on less than a dollar a day. (This figure has gone up by around 100 million over the last 10 years.) All this despite the fact that over the last 40 years more... More..
Business > Business News & Issues How ethanol and biofuels jeopardize the US economy: 1 of 4

The World Bank reports that over the past three years global food prices have nearly doubled. I see three primary reasons, and greed isn't one of them.First, as populations grow and people become wealthier, they change their diet. They demand not only staples, but also now regularly eat once out-of-reach luxuries like meat, d... More..
Politics, News & Issues > Climate Change Is the US right to back out of the Kyoto treaty?: 5 of 18

Last week at the UN's global warming meeting in Indonesia, polar bear costumed activists passed out huge pieces of cake. They were celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Kyoto Protocol, a treaty aimed at cutting greenhouse gas emissions. I wonder if they understand how their obsessive focus on Kyoto as the "only solution" hi... More..
Politics, News & Issues > Climate Change Climate change is unavoidable: 5 of 16
Facing our Carbon ChallengeBy Pete Geddes,executive vice president of the Bozeman, Mont. based Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment (FREE).The Annual Energy Forum recently hosted by Montana State University outlined the challenges of keeping carbon out of the atmosphere while supplying the energy people de... More..
Politics, News & Issues > Climate Change Climate change and global warming: What should we do about it: 17 of 42
Congratulations to Al Gore on winning the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on global warming. Mr. Gore asserts climate change is a moral and spiritual issue. In order to make responsible decisions on these dimensions, Mr. Gore's next mission should be to focus on the tradeoffs his policy choices necessarily imply.I suggest when... More..
Politics, News & Issues > Energy Issues Expensive oil could be a beneficial incentive: 1 of 2

Last week the price of a barrel of oil hit $100. This raised fears of an economic slowdown akin to the one in the 1970s when oil prices quadrupled almost overnight. That shock was largely responsible for the worst decade of global economic performance since the Great Depression. Today, however, the world is a much different p... More..
Politics, News & Issues > Climate Change Commentary: Government paternalism and global warming: 1 of 1

I'm evermore skeptical of the policy prescriptions demanded by those convinced climate change threatens civilization. Al Gore, the leader of this pack, asserts that if we do not act "within 10 years" (to reduce CO2 emissions) we are likely to reach a "tipping point" making it impossible "to avoid irretrievable damage to the p... More..
Politics, News & Issues > Energy Issues Thoughts on $200-a-barrel oil: 1 of 1

Record high energy prices and a recent trip to Europe prompt these thoughts on our energy future. The current energy situation, i.e., high prices, high demand, and tight supplies, is a glimpse of what life in a carbon constrained world looks like. We're entering the early stages of a transition from fossil fuels that will lik... More..
Politics, News & Issues > Environment (Other) Affluence and freedom are friends of the environment: 1 of 1

Here's some good news worth sharing. It's from a paper by Harvard economist Andrei Shleifer."The last quarter century has witnessed remarkable progress of mankind. The world's per capita inflation-adjusted income rose from $5,400 in 1980 to $8,500 in 2005. Schooling and life expectancy grew rapidly, while infant mortality and... More..
Politics, News & Issues > Conservation The role of government and public utilities in water conservation: 6 of 9

Here's why we should be worried about running out of fresh waterin most places around the world it's freepriced at zero. Any resource priced at zero will be wasted. Environmental and social problems follow. Here's one example.The Ogallala Aquifer underlies 225,000 square miles in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado,... More..