ENVIRONMENT

Michael Crichton on why federal government policy on DDT matters.

Resolved: That the United States Federal Government should significantly reform its environmental policies.

• Ten Principles of Eco•nomics (Chapter One from book by Richard Stroup). See also Cutting Green Tape: Toxic Pollutants, Environmental Regulations and the Law (R. Stroup is co-editor).

• You Have to Admit It's Getting Better: From Economic Prosperity to Environmental Quality, edited by Terry Anderson. All chapters seem to be online at Hoover Inst. here.

• PERC and PERC Reports. Highly recommended market-analysis of environmental issues.

• Heartland Institute overview of environmental issues. Environment & Climate News monthly. Heartland's Global Warming Facts page. And the Climate Change Reconsidered page with the NIPCC information (alternative review andanalysis of climate change studies).

• The Improving State of the World by Indur Goklany. (You can read some on Google books here) Subtitle: "Why We're Living Longer, Healthier, More Comfortable Lives on a Cleaner Planet." The planet is getting cleaner and safer, and people healthier, because of increasing prosperty. But don't take my word for it, review the data collected in this book. 450 pages and from Amazon for under $14.--Greg Rehmke

• Environmental policy with the union label (link to NYT article)
This NYT article on unions abusing "environmental" lawsuits to support pro-union solar power plants in California (and to block non-union solar plants) is instructive. U.S. environmental programs have been largely highjacked to support a wide variety of special interests. The Endangered Species Act has long been used by those who wish to block development. Hikers and backpackers sue to block new highways in places they enjoy vacationing.

Much the same story of special interests bending environmental policy to suit their goals is described in this Bjorn Lomborg article in the Wall Street Journal:

• The Climate-Industrial Complex: Some businesses see nothing but profits in the green movement (pdf) see also,

• Scared silly over climate change: We are frightening children with exaggerations – they believe they don't have a future and that the world is going to end

Lomborg is author of the excellent (but now 10 years old) book, The Skeptical Environmentalist: Measuring the Real State of the World (Paperback). You can "Look inside" on Amazon.

• Rethinking Green: Alternatives to Environmental Policy, an Independent Institute anthology, provides an excellent overview of major areas of environmental policy. Highly recommended.

• In a Dark Wood: The Fight Over Forests and the Myths of Nature by Alson Chase (author of Playing God at Yellowstone). Chase outlines the philosophy of environmentism in a sympathetic yet critical way. Chase's critique of modern environmentalists views on ecosystems is key. Mainstream environmentalist's faith in stable ecosystems whose "true nature" is to maintain balance and equilibrium, seems similar to misconceptions in mainstream economic models that offer equilibrium as something desirable (and that governments are called upon to return to via regulation). Market-process economic analysis sees naturalentrepreneurial improvements disrupting economies and forcing adaptation. My sense is that similar "entrepreneurial" or at least opportunistic processes in nature keep ecosystems changing, forcing adaption or exit. - Greg Rehmke

• NEW! Federalist Society page on environmental law: notes on books and journal articles. (See also other Federalist Society resources, including this Const. and Libert. "Pre-Law Reading List."

• Thoreau Institute and the TI blog The Antiplanner. Pages with links to articles on Public Lands, Fire, Endangered Species and Environmental movement.

• Free-market Environmentalism reading list on The Commons Blog. New site for The Commons.

• Heritage Foundation "Energy And Environment page.

• National Center for Policy Analysis posts and links on environmental topics.

• Private Conservation and Property Rights: Past Successes and Future Opportunities (Heritage Event)

• Judeo-Christian Tradition Best Basis for Environmentalism Interview with Robert H. Nelson in Acton Institute publication, Religion & Liberty.

Posts from 2004 or earlier:

Economic Thinking about the Environment

Trade, Labor and the Environment: How Blue and Green Sanctions Threaten Higher Standards by Daniel T. Griswold (Cato Trade Policy Analysis No. 15 August 2, 2001)

Economic Growth and the State of Humanity (PERC Policy Series)

Essays on the ethics of environmental stewardship from the Acton Institute for Religion and Liberty

Books on Environment, Development, Business

Global Greens: Inside the International Environmental Establishment by James M. Sheehan.

Chapter Summary, Earth Report 2000, Chapter 1, "The Progress Explosion: Permanently Escaping the Malthusian Trap."

Who Is Destroying the World's Forests? (an article I wrote many years ago).

PERC

Texas World! Click for link to Texasworld article on technology and population issues.

Economist Julian Simon is a great resource for high school speech and debate students interested in environmental issues. Simon is optimistic about most environmental issues (though pessimistic about the ability of the media to communicate fairly the scientific issues that surround environmental controversies. Click here for a link to Julian Simon pages that are available online.