Skip to content

About PERC

All Areas of Focus

All Research

Donate

Free Market Environmentalism for the Next Generation

Packed with examples, rather than theory, Free Market Environmentalism for the Next Generation offers new chapters, new authors, and compelling new stories of environmental entrepreneurs at work.

Published on: February 10, 2015

What Would Environmentalists Do if They Owned ANWR?

[…] furtherΒ designate the refuge as wildernessβ€”the highest form of federal protection. The reactions were typical. Industry groupsΒ saidΒ the restrictions are β€œtying American’s hands against a future of affordable and reliable energy.” Environmental groupsΒ praised the move. β€œSome places are simply too special to drill,” said Jamie Williams, president of The Wilderness Society. The Center for Biological Diversity […]

Published on: February 6, 2015

Confessions of a Free Market Environmentalist

[…] taxes in 2014, up from $310 million in 2008. By touting these taxes, I should not have been surprised when some of my conservative friends questioned my free-market credentials. β€œAre you really supporting more taxes?” they asked. Like any good economist, I defended my position by resorting to economic theory. Fish and wildlife habitat […]

Published on: January 29, 2015

Slowing Ships for Whales

[…] during the offseason. But for a few months each year, the environment will win twice over. Not only will endangered whales be safer, but emissions from cargo ships will be greatly reduced. Further Reading: Science: β€œBlue whales being struck by shipsβ€œ LA Times: β€œCargo ship plan aims to protect whales, air quality off Santa Barbaraβ€œ

Published on: January 23, 2015

Paying to Play in the Great Outdoors

[…] recreational use. At the state level, voluntary check-off programs, wildlife license plates, and conservation stamps have provided pulses of funding, but they have generally failed to deliver reliable and sustained support. Mandatory mechanisms to generate funding have emerged in some states. A small portion of the general state sales tax in Missouri and Arkansas […]

Published on: January 20, 2015

A Debate as Old as Economics

What the birth of free-market economics can teach us about today’s natural resource policies.

Published on: January 16, 2015

Pulse Flow on the Colorado

[…] run dry again, but Pitt and her colleagues at the Environmental Defense Fund continue to work to harness water markets that would allow the river to flow freely as it once did. Further Reading: National Geographic: β€œHistoric β€˜Pulse Flow’ Brings Water to Parched Colorado River Deltaβ€œ NPR: β€œWell, I’ll Be Un-Dammed: Colorado River (Briefly) […]

Published on: January 14, 2015

The 21st Century Wharf

[…] or dock) on the submerged land next to their property. By the 1640s, however, colonial legislatures and courts began to change that. They recognized that the establishment of this private right, which allowed landowners to connect to navigation, would benefit the growing nation. The bargain was as follows: By providing the private landowner with […]

Published on: January 9, 2015