Law, Property Rights, and Air Pollution
by Murray N. Rothbard
"No action should be considered illicit or illegal unless it invades, or aggresses
against, the person or just property of another. Only invasive actions should be declared
illegal, and combated with the full power of the law. The invasion must be concrete and
physical."
Libertarian Pollution Control
by Max More
The pollution solution
July 1, 2010
by Mary J. Ruwart
"The environment would benefit immensely from the elimination of sovereign immunity coupled
with the privatization of land and beast. The third and final step in the libertarian
program to save the environment is the use of restitution both as a deterrent and a
restorative."
The pollution solution, Part 2
July 12, 2010
by Mary J. Ruwart
"By instituting restitution, polluters will face a formidable deterrent. By eliminating
sovereign immunity, our bureaucrats will no longer be able to get away with the murder
of millions."
Polycentric Law Versus the Minimal State: The Case of Air Pollution
by Adam Chacksfield
How Capitalism Saved the Whales
August 1992
by James S. Robbins
"The first step that led to saving the whales was made by Dr. Abraham Gesner,
a Canadian geologist. In 1849, he devised a method whereby kerosene could be
distilled from petroleum."
How Fishing Communities Protect Their Future
February 1997
by Donald R. Leal
"Scotland’s salmon fishery, based on private fishing rights, is a success story.
However, it is not alone. Where communities can apply and enforce customary rights,
they, too, can avoid the tragedy of the commons. Legal recognition of their informal
rights would go a long way toward ensuring a productive future for community-run
fisheries."
How Property Rights Can Spur Artificial Reefs
February 1997
by Michael De Alessi
"Small fishing communities knew what they were doing when they created the first
artificial reefs out of rocks and logs hundreds of years ago. When large, heavy
objects are dropped into the sea, they attract and propagate large numbers of fish.
In Japan, traditional fishing communities have evolved into cooperatives that own
the reefs outright, and this secure ownership is the reason why their reefs are well
protected, productive resources."
A New Shell Game:
Endangered in the wild, farmed abalone proves to be delicious
January 12, 2008
by Raymond Sokolov
"Today, abalone are farmed from Taiwan to coastal France to the cold waters off the
coast of California. You can order them on the Internet as easily as Viagra. And they
are once again popping up on U.S. restaurant menus, at relatively affordable prices,
especially around San Francisco."
Private fishing rivers and fishing rights
"Scotland is world-famous for its salmon streams, and has a large tourist industry based
on sports fishing for salmon. This is not because Scottish salmon are somehow different
or better than salmon elsewhere in the world (though the Scots insist this is so). Rather,
it is because the rights to fish every inch of every river in Scotland is privately owned,
and the owners have a powerful incentive to keep them clean and well-stocked, since they
make a good business out of issuing permits to sports fishers."
Private Reef Building in Alabama and Florida
June 1, 1996
by Michael De Alessi
"Throughout much of the U.S., artificial reefs are created directly by state conservation
departments. Alabama and Florida are two exceptions: They began to tap the connection
between ownership and stewardship by creating limited areas where private groups and
individuals could create their own reefs. Once the reefs are in the water they become
public property, but the exclusive knowledge of where reefs are located allows
their "owners" to benefit from the productivity of the reefs and discourages them from
overfishing. Of course, this ownership only lasts as long as the reef location remains
a secret, but even this fleeting property right has resulted in a tremendous private
initiative to enhance the marine environment in these two states."
Property Rights and Whale Wars
March 18, 2010
by Jeremiah Dyke
"Without defined property rights, the public is left squabbling for some other rubric
from which to judge action. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the foolishness
of this squabbling on the topic of whaling."
Reef Madness: How Alabama fishermen are repopulating the sea
October 2001
by Ronald Bailey
"The seas have been systematically overfished because of the tragedy of the commons.
We've learned that the creation of artificial reefs increases the fish population, but
they too will be overfished unless we take the next step of creating some form of
ownership of these resources. To be sure, reef manufacturers such as David
Walter -- and fishers -- will gain from privatization. But ultimately everyone will
gain if marine ecosystems are made healthier and fish populations thrive."
Save the Bluefin Tuna through Property Rights
December 02, 2010
by Robert P. Murphy
"With ill-defined property rights, genuine conflict develops among people. Turning
to government regulation will only exacerbate the problem, because government
officials do not actually have the interests of "society" at heart. Only through
genuine ownership can the problem of overfishing be solved. The bluefin tuna needs
more capitalism!"
Whales and threatened fishing cultures
April 19, 1995
by John A. Baden, Ph.D. and Peter Baldwin
"In the end, a total ban on all whaling oversimplifies a complex issue. First, not all
whales are threatened. Second, we have the technology to create transferable property
rights in whales. With such guaranteed rights, whales will not be hunted to extinction.
Third, whales are central to traditions of coastal villages in Japan, Norway, and
Iceland. Reasonable harvest poses little threat to the continued existence of these
animals. In contrast, insensitive, imperialistic Western environmentalism surely
threatens these villages when it imposes its tastes on traditional cultures."
An Earlier Response to Environmental Tyranny
April 1998
by Daniel E. Walker
"There was a time when a government elite used its power to enforce draconian laws
concerning wildlife and forests; when the common law was ignored; when special courts
decided cases concerning the environment; and when the government owned great areas
of land, zealously prosecuting and persecuting people who had the audacity to use
natural resources to feed and shelter themselves. So-called crimes on government
lands were met with harsh punishments, far out of proportion to the offenses.
Of course, the government used its laws to raise revenue by imposing severe monetary
fines on offenders; building a hedge or ditch without first having obtained government
permission, for example, would result in a fine at the least.
People who flouted the laws were identified as outlaws. You probably recognize one
of the more prominent names: Robin Hood. He scorned not the Environmental Protection
Agency or Bureau of Land Management or the Endangered Species Act, but the
horrid "forest laws" of England and their enforcers early in this millennium."
Entrepreneurs Harmonize Economies with Ecology
September 04, 1996
by John A. Baden, Ph.D. and Douglas S. Noonan
"Since the 1970s, entrepreneurial innovation has transformed forest products into a
leaner, cleaner industry. Entrepreneurs found value where waste and pollution once
dominated. They effectively processed the once unusable fiber into valuable goods like
particle board. Entrepreneurial energies created value while by reducing industrial
impact on the environment. The teepee burners were closed and industrial waste became
useful products. Today, less than 5% of wood rolling into timber mills is wasted and
pollution has been cut 80 to 90 percent."
Fixing forestry
January 27, 2011
by Eamonn Butler
"State forestry is a mess, and private ownership will revitalize it, and will
actually extend the public amenity that our forests afford us. Private owners
are actually more likely to encourage public access than the Commission has
been – they can see more commercial potential in doing precisely that."
Forests for the People
by Allan Stewart and Miles Saltiel
"The public forest estate no longer serves a public purpose. It occupies 10% of the
area of Great Britain and over 15% of the rural area of mainland Scotland. All of this
is outside local control. Over the last eighty years the national forest policy has
been a complete failure and the Forestry Commission is to blame. There has been no
return on investment, no commercial value and worst has failed to deliver on any of
its objectives. The authors claim that the public forest estate should be freed from
government constraints and protection. The woodlands should be returned gratis to the
residents of the communities of which they could then become part."
Forests for the People, Not Politicians
December 1, 2003
by Roger E. Meiners
"Management of America’s public forests, especially in the west, is based on nationalized
government planning whose rules are determined by politicians. Forest management is under
the direct control of Congressional committees overseeing the Department of Agriculture
(U.S. Forest Service) and the Department of Interior (Bureau of Land Management). The
tragic decision made in Washington some time ago was to stop most thinning and harvesting
on federal lands. This year, requests for federal assistance to remove unhealthy trees on
415,000 acres of federal forest lands in California were mired for months in bureaucratic
machinations."
The Political Economy of Wildfires
June 08, 2000
by John A. Baden, Ph.D. and Pete Geddes
"In the fire arena it's time to consider replacing Smokey's minions with private
contractors. Agency morale has plummeted and pay stagnated. The Forest Service is
hard pressed to staff fire crews with experienced members. In response, a private
industry of wildlands firefighting has emerged. The Wildfire Contractors Association
and the Ash Kickers provides crews ready to go. Cache Plus and the National Fire
Fighter Corporation supply gear from hoses to trucks. Ecological and economic forces
have provided an excellent seed bed for environmental entrepreneurs."
Global Warming: The Other Side
by John Coleman
"KUSI meteorologist, Weather Channel founder, and iconic weatherman, John Coleman
explains the science and controversy surrounding Global Warming"
Global Warming Update
February 4, 2010
by Walter E. Williams
"John Coleman, founder of the Weather Channel, in an hour-long television documentary
titled "Global Warming: The Other Side," presents evidence that our National Climatic
Data Center has been manipulating weather data just as the now disgraced and under
investigation British University of East Anglia Climate Research Unit."
Government Garbage
by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.
Don't recycle.
Is recycling worth it?
May 24, 2010
Laralyn Murphy
"It's certainly possible that recycling is as beneficial as environmentalists claim. But
because we lack perfect knowledge of every factor of production, profit margins - not
politics - should determine if and how recycling is a part of the equation."
The Recycling Myth
February 4, 2008
by Per Bylund
"If we consider the costs in monetary terms, in terms of wasted time, and in terms of
increased emissions from automobiles, this is hardly environmentally friendly. Adding
the annoyance and the increased risk for disease, Swedish recycling is at least as
disastrous as any other government scheme."
Recycling Myths
March 1995
by Lawrence W. Reed
"Environmentalists who put their faith in government, with hardly a scrap of evidence
that suggests they should, seem oblivious to these realities. To them, mountains of
refuse waiting to be recycled into things people don't want at a cost they would never
freely pay is not a reason to abolish mandatory recycling schemes. Instead, it gives
them a reason to pass new laws that would force-feed the economy with recycled products."
Recycling: What a Waste!
October 5, 2005
by Jim Fedako
"What's wrong with recycling? The answer is simple; it doesn't pay. And since it
doesn't pay it is an inefficient use of the time, money, and scarce resources. That's
right, as Mises would have argued: let prices be your guide. Prices are essential to
evaluate actions ex post. If the accounting of a near past event reveals a financial
loss, the activity was a waste of both the entrepreneur's and society's scarce resources."
Three Myths about Trash
December 02, 2009
by Floy Lilley
"Austrian economics leaves it to every person to decide whether his or her belief
in recycling is more important than the avoidance of the inevitable consequences of
forced recycling policies: wasted natural resources and wasted human resources."
Why I Don't Recycle
September 28, 2010
by James Leroy Wilson
"The environmental benefits are outweighed by the costs."
Bad Data Make Global Warming a Cold Case
by S. Fred Singer
"That the climate is currently warming rests solely on surface thermometer data. It
is contradicted by superior observations from weather satellites and independent
radiosonde data from weather balloons. Proxy (non-thermometer) data from tree rings,
ice cores, etc. all confirm that there is no current warming."
A Blizzard of Global-Warming Hype
February 11, 2010
by Patrick J. Michaels
"It had to happen. In the midst of the record snowfall in the East, some mainstream
media outlet had to try to link this season's unusual weather events to global warming."
Climate change 'fraud' letter: a Martin Luther moment in science history
October 19, 2010
by Anthony Watts
"Esteemed physicist Harold Lewis is calling global warming the 'most successful pseudoscientific fraud
I have seen.' His resignation letter could mark the unraveling of one of the great scientific mistakes
in history and the beginning of a needed reformation of the scientific community."
Climategate, Copenhagen and Cap & Trade
January 04, 2010
by Dr. Mark W. Hendrickson
"Perhaps Climategate will awaken more people to the fraudulence of climate-change
alarmism and begin to explode the myth that humans can regulate earth’s temperature."
Cold, bitter winter is “proof” of global warming
January 28, 2010
by Michael Fumento
"Nothing especially outrageous here. The enviros have been doing this for years; indeed,
it’s why they adopted the term “global climate change” so that any change in climate or
even just weather - which obviously this is - can be portrayed as a result of man’s
nefarious activities in putting greenhouse gases into the air. The report, incidentally,
is from the National Wildlife Federation that makes money by promoting global warming in
the same way that GM makes money selling trucks."
The End is Not Near
February 4, 2010
by S. Fred Singer
"The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has acknowledged they made a
mistake in their projection of 2035 as the year when Himalayan glaciers were said to
melt. But the blunder is not a one-off mistake, and is the latest in the litany of errors
that have dogged the panel over the past ten years."
The Ethics of Freedom and Climate Change
November 24, 2009
by Francisco Capella
"If climate change is considered a problem, it does not follow automatically that it
has to be stopped or minimized at whatever cost it takes: humans are especially good
at adaptation, and government does usually more harm than good."
Freaking Out over Global Warming
November 10, 2009
by Robert Murphy
"It's surprising that some of the people who warn that the fate of the planet itself is it stake are
so dismissive of what could be a crucial component of humanity's response to the very dangers of
which they're warning."
Freedom works: Global warming
November 3, 2007
by Mark Landsbaum
"Look no further than the Kyoto Protocol's failure to meet targeted CO2 reductions
while simultaneously exempting China and India from its economy-stifling mandates.
Alarmists say without Draconian mandates, economies will suffer. But a recent Wake
Forest University survey of 210 economists found 59 percent believe global warming
would improve the U.S. economy."
German Physicists Trash Global Warming 'Theory'
by John O’Sullivan
"For any non-scientist interested in the climate debate, there is nothing better than
a ready primer to guide you through the complexities of atmospheric physics – the
“hardest” science of climatology. Here we outline the essential points made by
Dr. Gerhard Gerlich, a respected German physicist, that counter the bogus theory
of Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW)."
Global Politics, Political Warming
January 1998
by Doug Bandow
"Is the sky falling? The burden of proof falls on those demanding the power to levy
new taxes and impose new regulations. Unless and until such evidence appears, the
American people should remain skeptical of the global warming chorus."
Global Warming Benefits Outweigh Harms
April 2010
by Walter Cunningham
"Without the greenhouse effect to keep our world warm, the planet would have an average
temperature of minus 18 degrees Celsius. Because we do have it, the temperature is a
comfortable plus 15 degrees Celsius.
Other inconvenient facts ignored by the activists: Carbon dioxide is a non-polluting gas
that is essential for plant photosynthesis. Higher concentrations of CO2 in the
atmosphere produce bigger crop harvests and larger and healthier forests--results
environmentalists used to like."
Global-Warming Crusade
by George Giles
"'Global-warming Political Science' is the product of an affluent society that allows a
spoiled rich brat like Al Gore to get a Nobel Prize for telling un-truths. The American
people fired him! He is currently unemployed and for a good reason; he has no job skills
of any value, as would many of the "scientists" prosecuting the global-warming crusade if
the market were free to choose."
Global Warming Fraud: The Tide Begins to Turn
October 14, 2010
by James Delingpole
"The true hero of the hour is Professor Lewis for having the courage to stick out his neck and say
what so many thousands of other scientists around the world would dearly love to say too: that the
global warming industry is a scam and sham."
Global Warming: Hot Problem or Hot Air?
April 1998
by Jonathan H. Adler
"The earth is not on the brink of environmental ruin. Even if it were, an international
treaty and global bureaucracy could not save it. The treaty can, however, impoverish
nations, diminish prosperity, and subvert economic liberty—none of which is good for
environmental protection. Indeed, there is more to fear from a global warming treaty
than from global warming itself."
Global Warming Is a Fraud
by David Deming
"Climate change is natural and ongoing, but the Earth has not warmed significantly
over the last thirty years. Nor has there been a single negative effect of any type
that can be unambiguously attributed to global warming."
Global Warming Lunatics
February 18th, 2010
by Phillip Ellis Jackson
"Phil Jones, the man who more than anyone else (besides Al Gore) was responsible for
perpetuating the Man-Made Global Warming hysteria, has now conceded that, ahem, there's
a tiny problem with his data. Namely, it doesn't exist."
Global Warming Petition Signed by 31,478 Scientists
by Ron Paul
"The proposed limits on greenhouse gases would harm the environment, hinder the advance
of science and technology, and damage the health and welfare of mankind."
Global Warming—The Big Picture: A Review of Brian Sussman’s "Climategate"
August 6, 2010
by Dr. Mark W. Hendrickson
"It is difficult to overstate the importance of this book. Climategate provides a
comprehensive debunking of global warming mythology. It sounds a timely warning about how grim our
future will be if powerful elitists and special-interest groups succeed in imposing their agenda
on us. If you only understand global warming in bits and pieces, this is the book that puts it
all together for you in the proper perspective and context."
How a Free Society Could Solve Global Warming
October 2007
by Gene Callahan
"When trying to determine if the free market is to blame for possibly dangerous carbon
emissions, a logical starting point is to list the numerous ways that government policies
encourage the very activities that Al Gore and his friends want us to curtail."
Ill-conceived Policy a Greater Threat Than Global Warming
November 17, 1999
by John A. Baden, Ph.D.
"The great grandchildren of the world's poor are those most likely to be adversely
effected by global warming. Their greatest danger is premature policies which stifle
third world wealth creation. This great truth is often ignored in the debate over
climate change. Advocates of any policy should consider it."
It's Not Just That Global Warming Is Fake. What Matters Is Why This Fakery Is Being
Promoted
July 3, 2009
by Gary North
"The global warming movement is not about global warming. It is about the creation of an
international political control arrangement by which bureaucrats who favor socialism can
gain control over the international economy."
Kyoto Is Unfair to U.S.
October 21, 2004
by S. Fred Singer
"Russia’s economic collapse after 1990 nearly halved its emissions—and the base year
chosen for Kyoto is 1990. This arbitrary choice also favors Germany, which took over
a faltering East German economy, and Great Britain, which switched its electric
generation from coal to natural gas at about that time. We would lose out, and maybe
that’s why our economic competitors are so anxious to get us to ratify Kyoto."
The Libertarian Solution to Global Climate Change
by Barry Hess
"What is that libertarian principle that would literally solve the ‘problem’ (whether
perceived or real)? Well, here it is: That no person (or artificial entity) may
pollute either the atmosphere or terra firma beyond their own property line—period.
No ‘carbon credits’, no more pollution of any kind. Simple, huh?"
Must We Do Something, Anything, about Global Warming?
September 10, 2010
by Robert Blumen
"Once you start to tug on that ball of yarn, the entire politically motivated fraud starts to unravel."
No Proof Man Causes Global Warming
Natural Variation Fits Facts More Closely
December 28, 2010
by S. Fred Singer
"If indeed most current warming is natural—not caused by human emission of
greenhouse gases—then there is little point in reducing CO2 emissions from
fossil-fuel burning."
Royal Society: Doh!
October 15, 2010
by James Delingpole
"Of the many pseudoscientific institutions responsible for pushing the pseudoscientific fraud of
Man Made Global Warming in recent years, few have been quite so assiduous in promulgating the great
lie as our own Royal Society."
Show Me the Warming
December 2, 2009
by Michael Fumento
"Just maybe, before we take out that mortgage with our struggling economy as
collateral, we ought to see how the science develops. For those who say we can't afford
to wait, the answer is we can't afford not to."
The Sky Is NOT Falling!
The Sky Is NOT Falling!
by Bill Huff
"Do you want global government and universal taxation through the UN in order to
protect you from something that couldn't happen in 10,000 years? When will all of
these self-appointed philosopher kings stop torturing the rest of us with all of
their artificial plans?"
Statement on Global Warming Petition Signed by 31,478 Scientists
June 15, 2009
by Ron Paul
"There is no convincing scientific evidence that human release of carbon dioxide, methane, or other
greenhouse gases is causing or will, in the foreseeable future, cause catastrophic heating of the
Earth's atmosphere and disruption of the Earth's climate. Moreover, there is substantial scientific
evidence that increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide produce many beneficial effects upon the natural
plant and animal environments of the Earth."
U.S. Oil Consumption:
The Environmentalist’s Best Friend
March 14, 2005
by Jim Amrhein
"Look, the harsh reality is that soon all of the oil on the planet is going to get
drilled, tanked, refined, burned, and expelled into the atmosphere as GHG. It’s
unavoidable. The only things we can do to help minimize the effects of this eventuality
on the environment is make sure it happens as much as possible in nations that can be
trusted to do it cleanly and responsibly -- nations like the United States."
US Physics Professor: 'Global Warming Is the Greatest and Most Successful Pseudoscientific
Fraud I Have Seen in My Long Life'
October 11, 2010
by James Delingpole
"Harold Lewis is Emeritus Professor of Physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Here
is his letter of resignation to Curtis G. Callan Jr, Princeton University, President of the American
Physical Society."
The Warmer, the Merrier
by James P. Hogan
"Because of deficiency in micronutrients, large areas of the oceans are biological
deserts that could be "fertilized" at low cost to increase phytoplankton and hence
fish populations enormously. Instead of manically and pointlessly seeking to decrease
emissions at staggering cost in an attempt to implement an unworkable solution to a
nonexistent problem, we could be turning the byproducts of human industrial and
agricultural enterprise into living things and abundant food. This really is wonderful
news for those who believe that human creativity and cooperation offer the possibility
of building better tomorrows for the entire race, and that the choice is ours to make."
Why Are Climategate Charlatans Still Free?
October 1, 2010
by Alan Caruba
"If I had engaged in activities that involved fleecing the governments of the United States and
the United Kingdom of billions in public funds in the name of “climate research”, and it was found
that I had manipulated the data to advance the “global warming” hoax, wouldn’t I be facing charges
of fraud?"
Why I Deny Global Warming
October 19, 2011
by David Deming
"Carbon dioxide fertilizes hundreds or thousands of human food sources. More CO2 means
trees grow faster. So carbon dioxide promotes reforestation and biodiversity. It's
good for the environment. But none of this was reported. Instead, the media only
reported that global warming makes poison ivy grow faster. And this is but one
example of hundreds or thousands of such misleading reports."
WikiLeaks and Claim of Warmest Year On Record, Expose Climate Criminality
by Dr. Tim Ball
"Who is making the claim about warmest year while record cold reinforces public
cynicism? It’s the same old cast of deceivers identified by BBC reporter Richard
Black, who Michael Mann considered reliable."
Historic Preservation vs. Private-Property Rights
April 15, 2010
by Dave Albin
"The recent actions by the preservation commission against a private-property owner are
nothing less than aggressive theft by a third party."
Private ways of preserving the heritage
"In Britain as well as in Italy, the Landmark Trust has saved over 200 buildings of
historic interest and architectural importance from decay or unsympathetic alteration.
More than 150 of them have been made available for holidays throughout the year."
The Sagebrush Rebellion
January 1987
by Douglas E. Wentz
"As the above examples show, it is not necessarily destructive of environmental goals
to support the privatization of public lands. Quite to the contrary, in many cases only
private ownership can create the incentives necessary to produce a result that is both
economically efficient and environmentally sound."
Selling Yellowstone
May 19, 2011
by Becky Akers
"Selling Yellowstone and everything else government “owns” (does
a thief truly own what he buys with his victims’ plunder?) makes
sense on all levels, practically, constitutionally, morally."
Visions Upon the Land: Man and Nature on the Western Range by Karl Hess, Jr.
August 1993
reviewed by Jonathan H. Adler
"Whether Hess’ plan for privatization—the distribution of shares to all American
citizens that can be used for the purchase of public lands—is the best plan of action
is certainly a matter for debate. Any attempts to privatize federal lands are sure to
meet with strong political opposition. Nonetheless, the direction that must be taken
remains clear: Government control of a half-billion acres of land cannot be allowed to
continue. On this point, Hess demonstrates, both ecologist and classical liberal should
agree. The next step is making it happen."
Wilderness Cathedrals and the Public Good
May 1987
by William C. Dennis
"Finally, and most importantly, the disestablishment of the wilderness, as with the
disestablishment of the church, would contribute to the expansion of liberty. Wilderness
then would truly contribute to the support of those liberating values held in high
esteem by the preservationist community—values, which it might well be in the public
interest to further."
The Vatican and the Free Market
by John C. Goodman
"Outside the church, economists are one of the few groups who view people as a
resource, rather than as a pollutant."
Our Own Silent Spring
by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.
"It is estimated that 800,000 children in Africa die from the disease every year,
and as many as three million people altogether every year.
We know how people contract it: from mosquitoes. We know how to control it: kill the
carrier mosquitoes. And we know what kills them: DDT.
So why has the war on malaria failed? Because governments banned the cure. Now they
claim to wonder why people are sick and dying."
Saving the Planet with Pesticides and Plastic: The Environmental Triumph of High
Yield Farming by Dennis T. Avery
reviewed by E. C. Pasour, Jr.
January 1996
"This book makes a compelling case that high-yield agriculture and free trade throughout
the world are the best ways to protect human health and environmental resources. This
approach is not risk-free but is far less risky than the alternatives."
How to Fix U.S. Water Policy? Less Government, More Market Pricing
April 18, 2012
by Wayne Crews
"The modern challenge is to welcome water resources further into the market process. We
urgently need competitive market discipline to discover, not just desalination’s value
relative to sourcing alternatives, but to discover the true value of water itself."
Let Prices Flow: Water Needs Markets
August 18, 2011
by Floy Lilley
"As capital-based economists know, the cost of water is the cost of the next
unit of water. The next unit of water might not even exist if we cannot get
smart enough to use our single supply of water well. That's why a market is
needed — to find, secure, and deliver the next unit of water to the next
highest demand for water."
Making Every Drop Count: The Case for Water Markets
June 1988
by Donald R. Leal
"To make water marketing viable, the Bureau of Reclamation must take steps to
encourage exchange, and private ownership of water rights must be extended to
in-stream water. Fortunately, the outlook for developing political coalitions
to bring about such reforms is promising because water markets offer something
for nearly everyone: They can eliminate water shortages, reduce environmental
degradation, and reduce governmental spending, too."
Privatizing Rivers and Voluntary Slave Contracts
July 27, 2009
by Walter Block
"So, yes, some libertarians favor voluntary slavery, and most support the privatization
of rivers. Make the most of that, socialists!"
Rain, Rain, Go Away
February 6, 2008
by Jeffrey A. Tucker
"Look, it's not complicated: drought is another name for shortage. Government is capable
of creating a shortage in any good through bureaucratic management. Prices do not respond
to supply and demand, and a lack of innovation characterizes production. We see this in
schooling, mails, defense, courts, and every other area in which government enjoys a
monopoly. It shouldn't surprise us that the same is true in water provision. Instead of
blaming Mother Nature and the consumer, the water commissioners should look closer to
home to see why everyone is required to live in fear and is reduced to doing rain dances
to keep the water gods happy."
Socialist Water
by John Taddeo
"Why does city government have a monopoly on delivering water?"
Stewardship Versus Bureaucracy
September 1993
by Rick Perry
"A market-based system—achieved by placing a value on water inventories would motivate
agricultural producers to increase even further their conservation efforts and enhance
supplies for future generations."
Thirst for Private Water Suppliers Grows
April 03, 1996
by John A. Baden, Ph.D. and Douglas S. Noonan
"Ironically, public water companies were intended to protect the sacred municipal water
supply. What really happens in socialized water systems, however, is something quite
different. Water and other resources are wasted and public health is at risk while
political interests are protected. Now, as Mr. Clinton claims the "era of big
government is over," we can find support for innovative ways to provide public goods.
It takes courage to overcome the outmoded Progressive thinking. Fortunately, thanks to
the Reason Foundation and others, the common sense to see the benefits of privatization
is becoming more common."
Unquenchable: America’s Water Crisis and What to Do about It
by Robert Glennon
reviewed by Daniel Sutter
"Because the fastest growing states have very limited supplies of water and have not
taken sufficient steps to correct the projected shortfalls, it is only a matter of time
until a major U.S. city runs out of water. Despite its weaknesses, Glennon’s book is
saturated with interesting information about serious problems that confront the nation’s
water system."
User rights and water conservation
"Water is a commodity like any other. Essential commodities like food, clothing, and
shelter are all traded on the market, and income-redistribution, vouchers, or other
mechanisms are used to ensure that everyone, including the poor, have fair access to
them. Water, however, is commonly perceived as being different, which has led to
heavy-handed political intervention and has disrupted the operation of a market.
Fortunately, policymakers are beginning to understand that we can both protect the poor
and foster optimal use and conservation by applying market principles to this vital
resource."
Water is not 'different'
November 30, 2003
by Richard Tren
"The one fundamental problem with declaring anything a public good or common property
is that it provides no incentive to any individual to conserve that good. Well intended
water conservation campaigns may lead to some improved water use at the margin, but
unfortunately do not address the fundamental problem. Human beings the world over respond
to incentives and where those incentives encourage the wasteful use of water, no amount
of pleading from water conservation groups will change that behaviour. The only way to
use water more efficiently is to ensure that it is privately owned and its use is
monitored and paid for."
Water Markets
by National Center for Policy Analysis
Summary of a study done by Terry Anderson and Pamela Snyder in which
they argue for market pricing of water resources.
Water Markets Are the Answer
March 2003
by Charles Oliver
"Privatization, property rights, and water markets could help the southeast make
the best use of its now scarse water."
Who Owns the Amazon?
July 19, 2011
by Fernando Chiocca
"Is the Amazon ours? In order for us to answer this question it is necessary
to define three points: who exactly are "we," what is "the Amazon," and what
does it mean to "own" something?"
Fossil Rim Wildlife Center
"Fossil Rim is a leader in propagation and management programs, scientific research,
diverse public education initiatives and training facilities for conservation
professionals, and support of conservation programs worldwide. The animals at Fossil
Rim, with the exception of the carnivores, rhinos and a few others, are free to roam
on 1,500 acres of Central Texas hill country savannas and juniper-oak woodlands."
How private groups can help conservation
"Conservation bodies such as RSPB and Birds Australia act as highly efficient agents
to manage wildlife habitat. Such organizations are becoming increasingly popular and are
attracting substantial funding, not only in terms of membership fees, but also through
donations, legacies and commercial activities. They tend to be far more committed,
innovative and efficient than state-run bodies in terms of preserving and protecting
endangered species, other wildlife, and natural habitats."
Linking Liberty, Economy, and Ecology
September 1993
by John A. Baden and Robert Ethier
"The current Endangered Species Act has resulted in an attenuation of property rights
and begun to provoke a backlash fueling the "wise-use" movement. In contrast, land and
ecological trusts are founded upon private property rights. They preserve species by
using, not sabotaging, property rights."
Markets Key to Saving Our Endangered Species
January 1, 1995
by Randy T. Simmons
"Consider the Peregrine Fund, a private foundation that raises Peregrine falcons in
captivity and then releases them. Because of its effort, today there are more pairs
of Peregrine falcons nesting in New Jersey than at any time since records have been
kept—thanks to private efforts, not government or the Endangered Species Act, its
asset forfeiture requirements being in desperate need of reform for man and
wildlife alike."
Nature bites back
by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.
Problems arise when views on animal rights are imposed.
Owls, Ferrets, And Free Markets
March 1994
by K. L. Billingsley
"In the end, there are only two ways to solve the environmental question: by regulation
or by property rights. According to the best evidence to date, the property rights
approach comes closest to a win-win situation."
Private property rights to wildlife: the Southern African experiment
by Kay Muir-Lesche and Robert H. Nelson
Amidst the chaos in property rights protection in Southern Africa
lies a success story. The private ownership of wildlife over the
past twenty-five years has been relatively effective in recovering
endangered species. Available in Adobe PDF format.
Property Means Preservation
May 31, 2012
by Doug French
"If not for these private game reserves, a number of species would be extinct.
Because people like the four in our party are willing to pay to see the "Big Five"
and so much more, the populations of a number of these animals are thriving."
Saved by shooting: How private game parks protect wildlife
"Far more land is now devoted to game parks in Zimbabwe since landowners were given the
privileges and responsibilities of ownership. In 1975 17,000 sq km of private land was
given over to wildlife; by 1990 this figure had risen to 30,000 sq km. As a result there
has been a marked increase in the populations of elephant, rhino, crocodile, ostrich,
leopard and cheetah."
To Protect and Conserve
April 2, 2012
by Ninos P. Malek
"Texas ranchers are doing more for animal conservation than animal-rights groups,
because they allow animals to be hunted and killed on private ranches."
Wildlife in the Marketplace edited by Terry L. Anderson and Peter J. Hill
reviewed by Jane M. Orient
April 1996
"This compendium of nine articles takes examples from the Hudson's Bay Company,
1700-1763, to emerging Africa, to show how to turn wildlife from a liability into
an asset. It is not a collection of rhetoric but of detailed economic analyses of
how to manage wildlife resources, including endangered species, buttressed with
a wealth of references, tables, and graphs."
Wild Success
by Karl Hess, Jr.
"The lessons of community-based conservation echo from the savannahs and veld of
Southern Africa to the very heart of America."
Wolf Recovery, Political Ecology and Endangered Species
by Charles E. Kay
"Wolf recovery is a bad idea whose time has apparently come—unless, of course, the
Endangered Species Act can be changed."
Zoo, Inc.
January 1993
by David Haarmeyer and Elizabeth Larson
"For years, private zoological societies worked alongside city zoo officials, raising
funds and running education programs and concession stands. Now, as local governments
are forced to rein in runaway budgets, zoological societies are taking charge of
operating entire zoos. Nearly 40 percent of the 165 American zoos accredited by the
American Zoological Association—among them, zoos in Fort Worth, Cincinnati, New Orleans,
San Diego, and Jackson, Missis-sippi—are run by private, nonprofit societies. And that
figure is on the rise: Officials in Boston, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Fresno, California,
and Birmingham, Alabama, among other U.S. cities, are now considering privatization as
well."