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Randal O'Toole
Senior Fellow
Randal O'Toole is a Cato Institute Senior Fellow working on urban growth, public land, and transportation issues. O'Toole's research on national forest management, culminating in his 1988 book, Reforming the Forest Service, has had a major influence on Forest Service policy and on-the-ground management. His analysis of urban land-use and transportation issues, brought together in his 2001 book, The Vanishing Automobile and Other Urban Myths, has influenced decisions in cities across the country. In his most recent book, The Best-Laid Plans, O'Toole calls for repealing federal, state, and local planning laws and proposes reforms that can help solve social and environmental problems without heavy-handed government regulation. O'Toole is the author of numerous Cato papers. He has also written for Regulation magazine as well as op-eds and articles for numerous other national journals and newspapers. O'Toole travels extensively and has spoken about free-market environmental issues dozens of cities. An Oregon native, O'Toole was educated in forestry at Oregon State University and in economics at the University of Oregon.
Media Contact: 202-789-5200
To Book a Speaking Engagement: 202-789-5226
E-Mail: rotoole@cato.org
Books and Book Chapters
"Housing Policy," Chapter 22 of the Cato Handbook for Policymakers, 7th edition.
"Interior Department and Public Lands," Chapter 23 of the Cato Handbook for Policymakers, 7th edition.
"Surface Transportation Policy," Chapter 24 of the Cato Handbook for Policymakers, 7th edition.
The Vanishing Automobile and Other Urban Myths: How Smart Growth Will Harm American Cities, (2001)
Cato Studies
"The Myth of the Compact City: Why Compact Development Is Not the Way to Reduce Carbon Dioxide Emissions," Policy Analysis no. 653, November 18, 2009.
"How Urban Planners Caused the Housing Bubble," Policy Analysis no. 646, October 1, 2009.
"Getting What You Paid For -- Paying For What You Get: Proposals for the Next Transportation Reauthorization," Policy Analysis no. 644, September 15, 2009.
"High-Speed Rail Is Not "Interstate 2.0"," Briefing Paper no. 113, September 9, 2009.
"A Matter of Trust: Why Congress Should Turn Federal Lands into Fiduciary Trusts," Policy Analysis no. 630, January 15, 2009.
Articles and Newsletters
"Taking Illinoisans for a Ride," Illinois Policy Institute Brief, July 9, 2009.
"Why Government Planning Always Fails," Cato's Letter, vol. 6, no. 1, Winter 2008.
Opinion and Commentary
"Smart-Growth Plans Are a Failure in Portland," Houston Chronicle, November 14, 2009
"Are Proposals For High-speed Rail a Boondoggle?," Detroit Free Press (Online), August 3, 2009
"Why PA Shouldn't Build High-Speed Rail," The Bulletin, July 24, 2009
"High Speed Spending," Gainesville Sun, June 18, 2009
"A High-Speed Rail Mirage," USA Today, May 20, 2009
Events
"The Great Debate: Can Smart Growth Cost-Effectively Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions?," December 3, 2009 [Policy Forum]
"Toward a Customer-Driven Transportation Reauthorization," September 17, 2009 [Capitol Hill Briefing]
"The Right Road for America: Top-Down Transportation Planning vs. Customer-Driven Mobility," September 15, 2009 [Policy Forum]
"Cato University," July 26-31, 2009 [Conference]
"Transportation Reauthorization: Looking Beyond the Recession," March 12, 2009 [Capitol Hill Briefing]
Speeches and Testimony
"On Transit and Climate," July 7, 2009.
"Why Government Planning Always Fails," September 29, 2007.
Multimedia
Randal O'Toole discusses his recent study How Urban Planners Caused the Housing Bubble on WIBA's Upfront with Vicki McKenna October 6, 2009 [Flash Audio, 16:22]
Randal O'Toole addresses problems with land-use planning. September 18, 2009 [Flash Video, 08:28]
Randal O'Toole discusses high speed rail on MPR's Midmorning with Kerri Miller September 3, 2009 [Flash Audio, 35:42]
"Urban Planners' Ugly Conceit" featuring Randal O'Toole, August 7, 2009 [Flash Audio, 08:38]
Randal O'Toole discusses urban planning at Cato University. August 7, 2009 [Flash Video, 09:07]
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