![[Photo of Russ Harding]](/media/images/people/harding-r.jpg)
Russ Harding
Senior Fellow in Environmental and Regulatory Policy
Russ Harding is the senior fellow in environmental and regulatory policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. He previously served as senior environmental analyst and was director of the Center's Property Rights Network.
From 1995 through 2002, Harding served as director of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, having previously held senior management posts in environmental and natural resources departments in Arizona, Alaska and Missouri. Before joining the Center, Harding was senior director for environment and energy affairs with Scofes, Kindsvatter & Associates, a consulting firm.
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By Russ Harding
Good News From Marathon
Extra refinery capacity in Detroit will not only bring jobs and revenue, but also protect against gas price spikes and allow utilization of oil sands. … more
When Regulatory Agencies Cross the Line
Regulators should uphold the law, not go beyond it and act as environmental advocates. … more
High-Speed Rail? Not So Fast
Hundreds of millions of dollars for just 60 mph? … more
Critics of HB 4326 Miss the Point
Regulation without representation is unacceptable. … more
State Faces Decision in Electricity Grid Upgrade
Is Michigan being treated fairly in plan to upgrade power grid? … more
Michigan State Parks Stuck in a Rut
How to improve state parks. … more
Hydraulic Fracturing
MichiganScience is a Mackinac Center quarterly magazine that helps meet the need for accurate and accessible information about the increasingly complex scientific issues confronting voters and lawmakers. The magazine reflects the idea that even the most technical scientific policy issues can be discussed with lively prose and compelling visuals. … more
Just the Facts
MichiganScience is a Mackinac Center quarterly magazine that helps meet the need for accurate and accessible information about the increasingly complex scientific issues confronting voters and lawmakers. The magazine reflects the idea that even the most technical scientific policy issues can be discussed with lively prose and compelling visuals. … more
Lansing Township Action Puts Taxpayers at Risk
Government shouldn't be in the real estate business. … more
EPA’s War on Energy Hitting Pocketbooks
The market is starting to speak, and the news is not good. … more
End Energy Subsidies to Reduce National Debt
Time to stop corporate welfare for energy producers. … more
Green-Labor Alliance Bad for Workers
Union workers should reject the political agenda of their leaders. … more
Flood Insurance May Leave You High and Dry
Property owners should question floodplain maps. … more
Environmentalists Object to Following the Law
DEQ right to give Wolverine Power a permit hearing. … more
Garden Variety Bureaucracy
Detroit gardening permits a tough row to hoe. … more
Michigan Punches Rail Ticket
When will Michigan leaders learn that federal money is expensive and always comes with strings attached? … more
Regulatory Reform vs. Fluff
A ministry of silly legislation? … more
Trust Fund Baby
Time for the Natural Resources Trust Fund to pay its own way. … more
Government Action Could Lower Gas Prices
Federal government policies are partially responsible for the pain that Americans are feeling at the gas pump. … more
UN Treaty Would Give Rights to 'Mother Earth'
It's not just the silly ramblings of a Bolivian socialist leader — a pervasive environmental worldview pushes a religion, not stewardship. … more
Meridian Township Rules Against American Flag
The Stars and Stripes have been proudly flying over a Belle Tire store since its recent opening on Grand River Avenue in Meridian Township near Lansing. Not so fast, says the Meridian Township Zoning Board of Appeals, which ruled by a 5-0 vote that the flag must be taken down according to a report in the Lansing State Journal. … more
DEQ Fee Increases for 'Business as Usual'
The Department of Environmental Quality is requesting fee increases for air quality and solid waste permitting programs. The Legislature should not grant the agency’s request without requiring that the DEQ change the way it does business. … more
EPA Budget Cut
As budget details from the last-minute effort to keep the federal government operating are being released, it is clear that the Environmental Protection Agency is the big loser. … more
Budget Impasse Over EPA Worth Having
At the time of this writing it remains to be seen if the federal government will be subject to a partial shutdown due to budget wrangling in Congress. The difference in budget reduction dollar amounts has become almost meaningless as reductions in the $30 billion range are tiny compared to the trillions of dollars of red ink the federal government is piling up. … more
Cool Cities Warmed Over
Gov. Rick Snyder has issued the first in a series of special messages on policy issues to the Michigan Legislature. In his first policy message, he chose to address community development and local government reforms. The local government reform policy recommendations are good, the community development recommendations not so much. … more
Gov. Granholm to Tour Country for Green Energy
The best way to encourage the creation of more energy-related jobs in Michigan is to encourage natural gas and oil development, not by implementing policies that unduly restrict access to those resources. … more
How Much State Land Is Enough?
How much land should the Michigan Department of Natural Resources own or control? … more
Missed Opportunity for Regulatory Reform
Gov. Rick Snyder took a step in the right direction by separating environmental and natural resource functions into two agencies. The reorganization, however, falls short of what is needed to reform Michigan’s dysfunctional environmental permitting system. … more
DEQ Accused of Harassing Sparta Company
Apparently, the DEQ has enough employees to make unannounced inspection visits to companies that aren’t even required to have the applicable permits. State appropriators may want to examine the DEQ’s budget to indentify cost savings. Taxpayers should not be expected to foot the bill to keep excess employees on the payroll. … more
State Forest Resources Underutilized
The wise use of our natural resources has historically been critical to a flourishing Michigan economy. It is past time that we get back to the basics and utilize our forest resources to create jobs. … more
Government Regulation Killing Energy Jobs
Politicians claim job creation is a top priority, but political rhetoric does not always reflect reality. Often government actions kill jobs. Nowhere is the negative impact of government regulation on job creation more evident than in the energy sector. … more
Everyday Citizens Run Risk of Being Criminals
Until the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality specifically identifies all the wetlands on private property in the state, private property owners in the state are subject to criminal prosecution — a threat to liberty that every should concern everyone. … more
Drill Rather Than Tap U.S. Oil Reserves
The response from some politicians to release oil from the strategic petroleum reserve with the hopes of lowering prices (a questionable outcome) points to the fallacy of making U.S. energy policy based on short-term political considerations rather than a long-term balanced energy policy that is in the best interest of the nation. … more
Michigan House Fires Shot in EPA’s War on Energy
Yesterday the Michigan House voiced its opposition to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's efforts to side-stepping Congress by promulgating rules that regulate greenhouse gas emissions. … more
Government Mandate on Toilets Stinks
Michigan officials should take a time out on any new environmental mandates until we fully understand the unintended consequences of new requirements. … more
Criminals Profit From Carbon Trading
With the U.S. economy still realing from massive fraud in the housing meltdown, the last thing we need is to provide another lucrative opportunity for cyber fraud. … more
Repeal Ban on Great Lakes Directional Drilling
Alternative energy does not produce the good paying American jobs that oil and gas production does. The recent turmoil in Egypt and the Middle East underscores how important it is to develop the extensive energy resources abundantly found in North America. … more
New Report Finds Alternative Fuels Do Not Benefit Military
It appears that the political hype surrounding alternative fuels is based more on wishful thinking than facts. … more
Requiring Cost-Benefit Analysis of New Environmental Regs a Step in the Right Direction
It is encouraging that members of the newly elected Michigan Legislature are taking action to thwart over-zealous environmental regulations that are killing jobs in Michigan. Rep. Greg MacMaster, R-Kewadin, has introduced House Bill 4044, which seeks to get a handle on the cost of environmental regulation in the state. … more
Action, not Talk, Needed for Regulatory Reform
Tonight in his first State of the State address, Gov. Rick Snyder has an opportunity to lay out specific proposals on how to reform Michigan’s oppressive regulatory regime. … more
House Democrats Break With Environmental Supporters
Michigan House Democrats should be applauded for breaking with former Gov. Jennifer Granholm and the environmental lobby on the issue of clean coal-fired power plants. … more
Natural Resources Trust Fund in Need of Change
Michigan voters in 1984 approved amending the state Constitution requiring that oil, gas and mineral lease and royalty payments be placed into a trust fund creating the Natural Resource Trust Fund. The legislature then passed Public Act 101 of 1985 to implement the new amendment. It is time for state lawmakers to amend it. … more
Michigan Fiscal Policy a Two-Sided Coin
Michigan residents have a reasonable expectation that elected officials can do more than one thing at time. It is time for our leaders to meet those expectations. … more
The DNRE Is Dead. Long Live the DNR and DEQ
In his first executive order, Gov. Rick Snyder has split the Department of Natural Resources and Environment back into two separate agencies. His action restores the organization of state government dealing with natural resources and the environment into two separate agencies; recreating the Departments of Environmental Quality and Natural Resources. … more
State Supreme Court Reaffirms Property Rights of Lakefront Owners
The Michigan Supreme Court gave all private property owners in the state a belated Christmas gift with a ruling handed down on Dec. 29, 2010, that reaffirms that landowners in Michigan still have private property rights. … more
