Why high gas prices may not be bad...

So I, like all of you, have felt the pain at the pump and curbed my driving habits accordingly. However, we had an interesting conversation at work the other day that kind of resonated with my more liberal side. While the average American struggles to put gas in their cars, we have seen time and time again where major oil companies are raking in record profits or CEOs of these corporations are retiring with packages worth more than the GDPs of many small countries combined. However, like I said, there may be an up side to all of this. That is that the average American will finally start demanding something that I have been preaching for years... alternative fuels and more economical cars. No, not ethanol, but hybrid and electric cars, which not only cut our reliance on foreign oil, but also help to protect the environment. The argument I have heard against buying a hybrid up until a few months ago was that you never make the cost back... that it's an economic decision. However, in the near future it may be a pure economic decision for Americans to invest in hybrid vehicles and demand more fuel efficient cars and trucks. I understand that the pain at the pump hurts the economy, but I think that long term there may be some benefit.

She said what???

Hillary Clinton's sheer desperation to stay in the Democratic race hit a new low yesterday when she equated this year's presidential primary to the 1968 assassination of Robert Kennedy during that year's Democratic Presidential Primary. While there have obviously been concerns about Obama's safety, being the first African-American candidate to advance this far in the race for the White House, stooping to this level of desperation is bad, even for Hillary. It's like trying to sell life insurance to a woman by reminding her that her husband was diagnosed with terminal cancer last year. You just don't go there. I don't care if it is a real concern, or if you think it may happen, but you don't justify your reluctance to drop out of a race you've lost because there is a chance that your challenger may be assassinated. The real tragedy here is that Hillary just torpedoed her own political career. Goodbye to dreams of the White House, the Senate, or even City Council. She's done, and it's over. Any super delegate with half a brain or any voter with any sense of logic will vote Obama now and close out this election. She had a chance, and now she's done. Fact is that she has no one to blame but herself.

My Capstone

So as you have probably noticed, it's been a while since my last blog post. I wasn't quite sure what to blog about, so I figure I'll post about my capstone paper. Most of you have probably never heard of the Legacy Highway unless you grew up in Utah, or are familiar with the commute from Davis County into Salt Lake City. It was initially proposed by Mike Leavitt, former governor of Utah, and was to run parallel to I-15 from Brigham City to Nephi to alleviate traffic from I-15. The problem, though, was that a section of the project was meant to go through wetlands and near wildlife preserves off the shores of the Great Salt Lake. Environmental groups and Rocky Anderson brought a lawsuit against the state of Utah seeking an alternative route with a lessened environmental impact, which greatly delayed the project and cost the state millions of dollars. While I understand the argument that the monetary costs should have pushed the project forward, my paper focused on the benefit of having a system like ours where individuals can check government action through legal action. Sure, it causes inefficiencies and incurs costs that would have otherwise been avoided, but I believe that it helps maintain legitimacy and trust in government. The Legacy Highway was rerouted somewhat and there were environmental concessions made by the state, and research for mass transit options was also put into motion. The Legacy Highway may never be completed totally, but the lessons learned from this extensive delay taught the state important policy lessons for the future. So, while I often disagree with Rocky Anderson and the ACLU, I am glad for their existence as they are able to protect the rights of individuals who would not otherwise have a voice. Leave comments if you disagree, or would like to read my paper in its entirety. It's pretty normative (meaning I describe the way things ought to be ideally), so hopefully it doesn't bore you to death. Let me know what you think.