Free Market Environmentalism

Utah Governor Huntsman has been calling for Republicans to be more moderate on environmental issues, apparently putting him at odds with the bulk of his party.

What is it about environmental issues that so turns off conservatives? After all, many of them are outdoor recreationists, and all of us value clean air and water.

Most likely, conservatives recoil from the redistributionist, anti-market, anti-corporate, and collectivist strains within the modern environmentalist movement that impose bureaucratic micromanagement on private decision making.

Current environmental statutes impose heavy burdens on the private sector, but some of them have significant public benefits as well--especially those that reduce air pollution.

Is it possible to have more effective protection of air, water, soil, biodiversity, and climate while reducing the costs of those efforts? Absolutely yes.

What to do:
- Transfer control over local problems to local authorities. It makes no sense to restore land to agriculture quality (as Superfund requires), when it's intended to be redeveloped into a factory, a shopping center, or a parking lot. When 'federal' money is at stake, no one cares about the cost, but more local decisions would better weigh costs and benefits.
- Replace current pollution control requirements with a pollution fees. This allows emitters to decide how best to reduce pollution and gives them a continuing incentive to reduce emissions. To maintain international competitiveness, the funds from these fees should be used to reduce taxes on investment.
- Address climate change first through 'no-regret' policies, then through emissions fees that pay for reduced taxation of savings and investment. No-regret policies are good economic policies that have the side benefit of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. These include ending all subsidies for agriculture (including fishing and forestry), energy (fossil AND alternatives), and rural and coastal development; removing all trade barriers; encouraging adoption of tradable water permits, especially in the West; and moving towards privatization of transportation infrastructure.

This list is hardly comprehensive, but it's a good starting point. Current laws to protect the environment are horribly inefficient and counterproductive, and many bear the stamp of political opportunism rather than sober policy analysis. Environmental protection can also be fiscally responsible and economically wise.

Governor Huntsman is quite correct if he means that Republicans would be wise to adopt a free market environmentalism.

Democrats could keep their political edge on those issues by beating Republicans to the punch on adopting incentive-based environmental policies. Of course, that would mean giving up micromanagement of the private sector.