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The Lure Of The Jungle

Slash-and-burn agriculture has long been a way of life for farmers living in forested areas of the Dominican Republic. Maltiano Moreta, president of the Ecological Society, noticed that the steady destruction of forests near Cachote was also eradicating habitat for endemic bird species such as the Hispaniolan parakeet, parrot, and trogon. He persuaded local farmersContinue reading “The Lure Of The Jungle”

Record Shows Profit-Seeking Drives Green Innovation

By Jane S. Shaw David Driesen is disappointed that market mechanisms such as trading pollution credits do not automatically spur innovations that further reduce pollution. But that’s taking a short-term view. Trading reduces the often heavy cost of regulation, freeing up funds for other uses. And the success of the private sector in using itsContinue reading “Record Shows Profit-Seeking Drives Green Innovation”

The Property Rights Path to Sustainable Development

Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas October 23, 2003 “You can’t have a free society without private property.” – Milton Friedman By Terry L. Anderson and Laura E. Huggins Sustainable development has become the byword of environmental policy. The term has been around for about thirty years but has only recently become popular (see International Institute forContinue reading “The Property Rights Path to Sustainable Development”

A Grazing Buy-Out?

Rocky Mountain NewsFall 2003 By Holly Lippke Fretwell Although little noticed by most Americans, grazing on federal land is a big business. Ranchers across the West lease permits to graze their cattle on about 250 million acres of federal land, an area more than twice the size of California. Some environmental groups, concerned that cattleContinue reading “A Grazing Buy-Out?”

Another Take on Free Market Environmentalism

PERC’s Conference for Journalists Emigrant, Montana October 4, 2003 Friendly  Critique By David Roodman Thank you. In this morning’s program, Rick and I are set up to take opposite views on a fundamental philosophical question. Despite that, I think both of us will acknowledge that neither extreme view is tenable. Free-market environmentalism is neither perfectlyContinue reading “Another Take on Free Market Environmentalism”