by Reed Watson
This report by the World Resources Institute begins as most environmental reports do: with alarming news of man-made environmental destruction and a dire prognosis for maintaining the status quo.
The focus of this particular report is deforestation in the South and the critical importance of protecting "Intact Forest Landscapes" from suburban development.
Nothing new here. Suburban development has long been the bane of wilderness preservationists.
What is newsworthy is the author Logan Yonavjak's interview on NPR. In it, she discusses how paying private forest owners not to sell to developers is a cost-effective way to ensure the continued provision of wildlife habitat and clean water. She even explains that the consumers of the environmental goods should be the ones who pay!
Advocates of Free Market Environmentalism (FME) should be pleased. There's no call for expansive regulation, zoning, or federal subsidies to solve this environmental "problem." Instead, concepts like "economic incentives" and "entrepreneurial approaches to pay private landowners" dominate the interview.
Perhaps soon they'll dominate the environmental conversation.
Founded 30 years ago in Bozeman, Montana, PERC—the Property and Environment Research Center—is the nation’s oldest and largest institute dedicated to improving environmental quality through property rights and markets.
PERC’s publications, each designed to resonate with specific groups, move ideas generated at PERC to broader audiences.
Research is at the heart of PERC's work, with a focus on the question: What is the link between economic growth and environmental quality?
The goal of PERC’s programs is to fully realize the vision of establishing “PERC University,” where scholars, students, policy makers, and others convene to expand the applications of free market environmentalism.
PERC's fellowships share a common goal of exposing new scholars, students, journalists, and policy makers to free market environmentalism, as well as enable scholars already familiar with FME to explore new applications.
PERC continues to publish and present a broad range of research and discussion through podcasts, videos, and other multimedia channels.