Buzz Blog

A small business owner explains why raising the minimum wage is a good thing and will level the playing field between big corporations and small businesses.---

Top of the Alty World

“A Small Business Owner’s Case for Raising the Minimum Wage”--Slate

If Sen. Elizabeth Warren isn't running for president why did she write a campaign book?--Mother Jones

Big data can help U.S prisons more effectively release the right offenders on parole.--The Economist

Rolling Stone looks at how Arizona's abortion laws are hurting women.--Rolling Stone

Top of Alty Utah

Governor Herbert explains his Medicaid expansion plan.--Utah Political Capitol

A complaint of a buried oil drum led to swift inaction by environmental regulators.--Salt Lake City Weekly

Attorneys and staff reminisce about the ghosts and grandeur of the old Frank E. Moss federal courthouse.--Salt Lake City Weekly

Rep. Francis Gibson, R-Mapleton, urges lawmakers not to start a leadership race right now.--Utah Politico Hub

Rantosphere

Big government inspires a lot of derision among conservatives and even some republicans but some say it may be the only thing that can protect against the calamities of climate change.

“By now, this viewpoint has taken on the aura of folk wisdom, as if the essence of democracy were to hate government. Even many on the left now regularly dismiss government as nothing but oversized, wasteful, bureaucratic, corrupt and oppressive, without giving serious consideration to how essential it may be to our lives. But don’t expect the present “consensus” to last. Global warming and the freaky, increasingly extreme weather that will accompany it is going to change all that.

After all, there is only one institution that actually has the capacity to deal with multibillion-dollar natural disasters on an increasingly routine basis. Private security firms won’t help your flooded or tornado-struck town. Private insurance companies are systematically withdrawing coverage from vulnerable coastal areas. Voluntary community groups, churches, anarchist affinity groups—each may prove helpful in limited ways, but for better or worse, only government has the capital and capacity to deal with the catastrophic implications of climate change.”--The Nation

The Long View

Salt Lake City Weekly's Green Guide focuses on water use in the state and takes a look at Utah's greedy consumption of water.

“Call it waste, or call it abundance: Even though Utah officials say that the state is headed toward a water emergency that will soon require construction of $2 billion in water projects, Utahns use, and will continue to use, boatloads more water than their neighbors across the West. Sprawling out across the second-driest state in America, Utahns are the second-most prolific consumers of water in the nation. Utah’s baseline rate of water consumption per person, per day, is 295 gallons, according to the Utah Division of Water Resources.

Only Nevada uses more. This number fluctuates from year to year, but is important because water officials have used it as a starting point for conservation efforts and future projections. When Utah achieves a statewide conservation goal of slicing its thirst by 25 percent over the next 11 years, its consumption will still far exceed the 130 gallons New Mexicans consume, or the 165 gallons used per person in Denver.”--Salt Lake City Weekly