
Scholar Commentary
Here at The Center for Growth and Opportunity, we have a unique way of confronting challenges. Relentless optimism. Bold commitment. Fearless innovation. We want to leave the world a better place than when we got here. Whether it’s our award-winning students, or our world-class researchers, we look to work together to find creative solutions to today’s most pressing issues. We’re committed to turning ideas into action.


Op-ed: Moratorium on soda taxes puts California on the right track

Op-ed: The risk of risk aversion at the Federal Aviation Administration

Op-ed: Replacements for plastic straws have their own problems

Op-ed: ESA and Cooperative Conservation in the West

Op-ed: Conservative Media Skew Story on ‘Dreamer’ Arrests

Op-ed: How Banning Plastic Straws Could Make Pollution Even Worse

Op-ed: How Pork-Barrel Spending Shapes the Ideological Composition of Congress

Shughart Discusses Applied Microeconomic Theory and Public Choice on Podcast

Op-ed: Hydro Projects Get Lost in Red Tape

Op-ed: Ineffectiveness of Renewable Portfolio Standards

Smith Discusses Renewal Portfolio Standards on Podcast

Jenkins Participates in Public Lands Discussion

Op-ed: Energy Markets Serve National Security Better than Favoritism
AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli The Trump administration proposed a policy aimed at helping suffering coal and nuclear power plants by requiring utilities to purchase electricity from these plants. CGO researchers, Camille Harmer and Josh T. Smith, write about the

Op-ed: It’s a new day for daily fantasy sports betting

Op-ed: The High Cost of Solar Mandates

Koopman Discusses Aviation Empowerment Act on Podcast

Op-ed: Flight-sharing could bring Uber to the skies

Op-ed: Despite safety record, Chernobyl haunts nuclear power industry

Op-ed: Allow the testing of driverless cars on their roads

Op-ed: Telling Dreamers to ‘get in line’ misses the mark on immigration

Op-ed: Tariffs and Econ 101

Op-ed: Mixed Signals for U.S. Solar Industry

Op-ed: 11 Billion reasons to raise park entry fees

Op-ed: ‘Dreamers’ are worth the wall

Op-ed: Keep fossil fuels in the ground, supports a form of economic self-destruction
Professor William F. Shughart II, of Utah State University, and Josh Smith, of the Center for Growth and Opportunity, argue that the best way to promote progress in the renewable energy sector is not to halt production of fossil fuels. Refusing to acknowledge that the

Op-ed: Let the market determine energy sources’ futures

Op-ed: California’s Soaring Gas Taxes Aren’t Even Going to the Roads

Op-ed: Paying more at the pump will not fix California’s roads
Californians will now be paying almost 60 cents per gallon in taxes for their gasoline purchases—an increase of 12 cents. The increase comes after the rise of hybrid and electric vehicles has caused a decline in gas-tax revenue and left the highway trust fund short on
