Fred P. Bosselman

Planning for a Bull Market for Wetlands

Abstract Do wetlands have a value on the open market only as targets for destruction? This was an assumption long held by business and conservation interests alike. But we may be entering an era when this assumption is no longer valid. The potential role of wetlands in producing biofuels, reducing greenhouse gases, alleviating water pollution, conserving rare species, and mitigating wetland losses may turn some wetlands into valuable assets.

Is Big LULU Back in Town? The Revitalization of Nuclear Power

Introduction Locally unwanted land uses, or LULUs, often give rise to highly charged local confrontations. People whose memories go back two or three decades will recall the pitched battles over the construction of nuclear power plants, perhaps the biggest LULU of them all. For more than 20 years, no one has proposed to build a nuclear power plant in the United States. But the nuclear power industry has not been as dormant as it may have seemed. Construction of new plants overseas, the development of new technology, and the problems of competing energy sources have reawakened interest in nuclear power. Today, preliminary ventures are underway to explore a number of potential sites for new nuclear reactors. How should the public react? An entire generation of people has grown up since this issue was last debated in the United States. To understand why big LULU may be coming back to town, we need to recall why she left and to appreciate how the town has changed in the interim.