Re: Conservatives and Conservation
[Jonathan Adler  03/21 12:16 PM]

The discussion about environmental policy here seems to be confusing what is and is not "free market" or "conservative" about various approaches to environmental policy. Those of us who embrace "free market environmentalism" are not calling for taxes and various market-oriented regulatory instruments. That is "faux market environmentalism." What we call for is the expansion of market institutions — property rights and voluntary exchange protected by the rule of law — to environmental resources. This was the foundation upon which America's initial conservation movement was built and, we would contend, provides the basis for an environmental policy that advances environmental values in a manner consistent with individual liberty and conservative principle. For an overview of FME, see this description from The Commons Blog. A longer case for FME, including specific policy recommendations, can be found here.

I should also add that one need not hold efficiency as the highest good to espouse "free market" or property-based approaches to environmental protection. Yes, markets grounded in property rights are the most efficient way of ordering economic affairs, but they are also the most moral — and they should be preferred to governmental regulation. Property is, in Richard Weaver's words, the "last metaphysical right." It is property, more than anything else, that enables communities to define themselves and protect their values. Property is also the foundation for stewardship. Some environmentalists are beginning to recognize the importance of property rights to environmental conservation (a point I make here). I would hope that conservatives, crunchy and otherwise, would recognize this as well.