latest posts
Water Redux
April 7th, 2007
About a month ago, I wrote a post entitled ‘Water’. In it I suggested that water would become an increasingly precious resource in the southwestern U.S. and that disputes would occur between states and other regulatory entities over rights to the water of the Colorado River. It was therefore no surprise to see a huge front page story a few days ago on the topic. The front page picture was of a fishing pier that was jutting out into the air since Lake Mead was 80 feet below ‘normal’. Welcome to the new normal.
The …
Highway to ?
March 5th, 2007
There was an article the other day in the paper with the headline “Phoenix Plans 24-Lane Highwayâ€. The article described the plan to widen a two mile stretch of Interstate 10 in Phoenix to 24 lanes. In each direction there would be six general purpose lanes, two high-occupancy lanes and then four lanes for local traffic. The article went on to mention several other giant highway proposals around the country such as an expansion to18 lanes in Houston and 23 lanes in Atlanta.
300 Million – Part Two
October 17th, 2006
So, today we are now a country of 300 million people facing an uncertain future together. What are the issues that we will have to deal with as a country as our population grows from this number, and what can we anticipate as we look at global population growth?
The United States currently has an average of 86 people per square mile, which is much lower than many other developed countries. Even when we absorb another 100 million, which is projected to be around 2043-45 our population density will be lower than some European countries are now. Where this statistic is …
300 Million – Part One
October 16th, 2006
Tomorrow, October 17, 2006 will be the day when the population of the United States of America will become 300 million. It will most likely get a lot of coverage, as round, big numbers always have a fascination for the media. In and of itself it is a non-event, as why is the 300 millionth birth more significant than the 301millionth birth? But it is a significant number relative to the history of this country and as it fits into the population growth of the world.
First here is some historical perspective on this event. The U.S. took 126 years to …
