All posts by Lloyd Bentsen

Property Issues

How The West Was Won – By The Feds

Well sometimes feels like we never won it when so much of our land and resources are under the direct control of the U.S. government and tribal authorities. If you take a look at the American “west”, you will see a very big difference from the other half of the country in terms of land owned by the government and land that is “free” to own by the public.

The federal government owns approximately 29% of the land area in the United States, more than 653 million acres. The U.S. General Services Administration’s report on Federal Real Property Profile, 2004 shows how much land the government owns in each state. The top 10 federally owned states:

  • Nevada 85%
  • Alaska 69%
  • Utah 57%
  • Oregon 53%
  • Idaho 50%
  • Arizona 48%
  • California 45%
  • Wyoming 42%
  • New Mexico 42%
  • Colorado 37%

Out of the top 10 states (all are in the American “west”), the federal government owns 505 million acres or 77% of the total land area owned in the United States by the federal government.

The White House acknowledges the fact that not only is the United States government the largest property owner in the country, but also a major source of government waste because of this fact. Efforts to make much of this property available to the public for purchase have been minimal. The White House Federal Excess Properties site shows the federal government’s effort in selling off properties.

The Federal Government is the biggest property owner in the United States, and billions of taxpayer dollars are wasted each year on government properties that are no longer needed. The President has proposed an independent Civilian Property Realignment Board to help the Federal Government cut through red tape and competing stakeholder interests to sell or get rid of property it no longer needs. Over time, this could save taxpayers billions of dollars and help to reduce the deficit.

This map shows just the tip of the iceberg in terms of opportunities for downsizing the Federal real estate portfolio. Under the President’s proposal, more properties, in some cases with significant market value, would be added to this map and dealt with more quickly and effectively than they are today.

President Obama and Vice President Biden launched the Campaign to Cut Waste to eliminate misspent tax dollars in every agency and department across the Federal Government. Getting properties like those highlighted below off our books is a key first step in this effort.

The Civilian Property Realignment Board was cancelled by congress and a very painful and slow process for eliminating this waste is still in place.

Before any agency sells a surplus property, it is required by federal law to ensure that no other U.S. agency wants it. It must then offer a right of first refusal to state and local governments as well as nonprofits. Buildings must be assessed as potential homeless shelters and reviewed for environmental contamination and historic significance.

All of these federally owned properties have the potential to be transferred to state/local governments or to private interests. Benefits could include:

  • less government waste of resources and taxpayer dollars
  • increased efficiency of remaining federal properties
  • greater use of agriculture, energy and natural resources for private use

The bipartisan Federal Real Property Asset Management Reform Act of 2013 is intended to expedite the sale of federal property that is underutilized. A greater effort in this direction is very obvious and needed.

Rare Earths

What Can We Learn from the WTO Case Against China?

2 Comments

After several years, the official complaint with World Trade Organization (WTO) over China’s export restrictions of rare earth materials has finally come to a conclusion: China’s exportation policies are inconsistent with its obligations to WTO and violate international trade rules.

Precisely because China’s share of the production of rare earths has been reduced from 95% in 2010 to 80% in 2013 leading to a steady price decline, the decision has not had a significant effect on the U.S. economy yet. Many domestic industrial producers, however, still welcome the final decision from WTO. They anticipate that China’s failure in this case may help them regain the competitive edge over China’s domestic and export producers. Additionally, some politicians also claim that this triumph will remain the high-quality, middle-class jobs in the U.S.

On the other hand, some policy analysts argue that the decision could be a double-edged sword which may hurt the U.S. Over the last decade, in order to protect the domestic industrial producers, the government has been implementing a series of import restrictions on some of the critical materials by using antidumping measures. Apparently, China suffers most from the antidumping policies. Therefore, it is entirely possible that China may file a suit against America for its antidumping policies based on the logic in this case. As some economists suggest, being embedded in a global economy, countries are so highly interconnected that any tiny modification may cause significant economic fluctuation. It is time to reconsider our trade policies to create a win-win situation.

Source: Xinyuan Zou is a research associate at the National Center for Policy Analysis.

Global Warming

The Growing Benefits of a Warmer World

5 Comments

Global warming has stalled for the last 16 years, but the warming that has occurred over the last 150 years — despite what is commonly believed — has actually been beneficial. In fact, the earth should continue to see benefits from warming for the foreseeable future, says H. Sterling Burnett, a former senior fellow with the National Center for Policy Analysis.

A study by economist Richard Tol found that until 2080, and potentially beyond that, a warming trend would have a positive impact on the world’s economy. Over the last 150 years, the globe has warmed an average 0.8 degrees Celsius. An additional 2.2 degree rise in temperature would continue to yield substantial benefits.

Climate change over the last century has added 1.4 percent to global economic output, Tol found. By 2025, that figure should reach 1.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

Increases in carbon dioxide (CO2) have added 0.8 percent to GDP because of the boost to agriculture. Similarly, the temperature increase has reduced the demand for heating, adding 0.4 percent to GDP.

With higher CO2 levels, plants thrive and become more efficient in their use of water. And because most of the warming has reduced low nighttime temperatures, the globe has seen fewer growth-stunting frost events, as well as longer growing seasons.

  • Agronomist Craig Idso determined that a 300 parts per million rise in CO2 increases plant biomass 25 percent to 55 percent.
  • From 1961 to 2011, the annual value of improved plant growth grew from $18.5 billion to more than $140 billion, amounting to a total of $3.2 trillion.
  • From today to 2050, Idso determined that increases in CO2 will result in $9.8 trillion in additional crop production.
  • Notably, it is Africa that is benefiting largely from improved agricultural production.

Growing faster than all other continents, one-third of African countries are growing at 6 percent per year. And from 2005 to today, the amount of people living below the poverty line has fallen from 51 percent to 39 percent.

African farmers are replacing crops introduced by colonial governments with traditional crops that grow best in warm, dry conditions. In sub-Saharan Africa, the growth of agricultural GDP increased from 2.3 percent per year in the 1980s to 3.8 percent each year from 2000 to 2005.

Food production is actually outpacing population growth in Uganda and the 15 countries of West Africa.The poverty rate in Ghana has fallen in half, while farm output has increased 5 percent every year for the last two decades. Even Ethiopia and Malawi are growing record amounts of crops and exporting surpluses.

Source: H. Sterling Burnett, “The Growing Benefits of a Warmer World,” National Center for Policy Analysis, March 18, 2014.

Energy

Hoard and Use Some Resources, Export the Rest

5 Comments

President Obama’s administration approved expanding natural gas exports back in 2011 and 2013. Cheniere Energy Inc’s Sabine Pass facility will begin exporting to countries in 2015, Freeport LNG in 2017 at up to 1.4 billion cubic feet a day of liquefied natural gas and Cameron LNG, LLC has been added this year to export up to 1.7 billion cubic feet a day.

The United States has an abundant amount of natural resources that we are not using and may never use if technology keeps improving our energy consumption. A recent technological advancement, fracking, increased the volume of a number of our energy sources such as natural gas and oil. In a recent NCPA issue brief, the clear advantage fracking is for America’s energy needs are explained:

Just 15 years ago, analysts predicted America had only 60 years of natural gas supplies available at then current rates of use. Today, natural gas consumption is much higher, and fracking has increased estimated reserves to 100 years or more.

The Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) that can hold up to 727 million barrels of crude oil only. Refined oil reserves do not exist in the United States. If our existing refineries went offline, we would have to import refined petroleum products. This defeats the purpose of having an “emergency” stockpile of petroleum reserves. What good is the oil if you cannot use it? There should be a Strategic Refined Petroleum Reserve (SRPR) of at least equal in size for real emergencies.

We have an abundant amount of natural resources that we are not using and may never use. Resources like our natural gas and oil are very valuable and can be easily exported. We would then boost our nation’s economy and have the money needed to improve the technology at a faster rate making our energy use more efficient.

Transportation

Rethinging the Way Transportation Infrastructure is Funded

1 Comment

States are taking matters into their own hands

It may come as a surprise to you, but there is a quiet revolution in transportation funding underway these days. Faced with a depleted Highway Trust Fund and uncertain prospects for more money from a deficit-conscious Congress, many states are taking matters into their own hands and aggressively pursuing more fiscal independence.

A survey we have recently conducted documents significant funding initiatives in 18 states. Some states have raised their gasoline taxes (MD, WY, MA, and VT). Others have shifted to a tax on fuel at the wholesale level (e.g.PA). Still others have enacted dedicated sales taxes for transportation (e.g. AK, VA) or floated toll revenue bonds (e.g. OH).

Continue reading Rethinging the Way Transportation Infrastructure is Funded →

Global Warming

Another Year of Global Cooling

2 Comments

An article by David Deming, professor of arts and sciences at the University of Oklahoma, in the Washington Times:

Global warming is nowhere to be found. The mean global temperature has not risen in 17 years and has been slowly falling for approximately the past 10 years. In 2013, there were more record-low temperatures than record-high temperatures in the United States.

Continue reading Another Year of Global Cooling →

Energy

Keystone XL Good to Go, But Wait…

2 Comments

In an article by Rich Lowry of the National Review this week, a new Department of State review of the New Keystone XL Pipeline Application concludes that the pipeline poses no environmental hazard, among other evidence, and supports the construction of the pipeline. Unlike the Alberta Clipper pipeline project, Keystone XL had become the focus of harsh attacks from fringe groups that caught the attention of the White House. Even though Keystone XL would add 800,000 barrels a day to our refineries, strengthen our strategic resources and give an economic boost; the final authorization for the pipeline may never happen — we will just have to wait and see.