Free Market Environmentalism [Paperback]

Terry L. Anderson (Author), Donald R. Leal (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0312235038 | ISBN-13: 978-0312235031 | Publication Date: February 3, 2001 | Edition: Revised

The original edition of this seminal book, published in 1991, introduced the concept of using markets and property rights to protect and improve environmental quality. Since publication, the ideas in this book have been adopted not only by conservative circles but by a wide range of environmental groups. To mention a few examples, Defenders of Wildlife applies the tenets of free market environmentalism to its wolf compensation program; World Wildlife Federation has successfully launched the CAMPFIRE program in southern Africa to reward native villagers who conserve elephants; and the Oregon Water Trust uses water markets to purchase or lease water for salmon and steelhead habitats. This revised edition updates the successful applications of free market environmentalism and adds two new chapters.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Terry L. Anderson is Executive Director of the Political Economy Research Center (PERC), in Bozeman, Montana and Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.

Donald R. Leal is a Senior Associate at PERC, editor or author of three books, and contributing author to six books that cover various aspects of environmental policy.

Product Details

• Paperback: 241 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan; Revised edition (February 3, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312235038
• ISBN-13: 978-0312235031
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #100,915 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mix of useful analysis and not-so-useful ideology, February 17, 2007

By 

Arthur Digbee (Indianapolis, IN, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Free Market Environmentalism (Paperback)

As the title suggests, this book provides a manifesto for "free market environmentalism" (FME). It's a seminal text for that community, which argues (surprise) for free-market solutions to environmental problems.

The book makes its case effectively, and open-minded people on all sides of these debates can learn something from the book. Chapter 2, "Rethinking the Way We Think," is particularly valuable in making the reader think a second time about things she thinks she knows. The selection of topics in the rest of the book (fencing ranches in the western US, bureaucratic land-use mandates, user fees for recreation in national forests, global warming) is pretty random but tolerably representative. Some suggestions are more plausible than others.

The ideological side of FME wants to make markets look like the solutions to all problems. The real FME claim is that, if government chooses to achieve some environmental goal, it can achieve that goal at least cost by developing market solutions. For example, tradable emissions permits achieve a given level of emissions efficiently, but you still have to decide the emissions level politically, and have bureaucrats enforce the levels. Similarly, user fees might raise the value that national forests place on recreation use, and might reduce crowding at some sites - - but the "real" market solution would be to sell national forests to the highest bidder, sell national parks to Disney, and so on.

Anderson and Leal don't actually propose such sell-offs but the ideological version of FME would advocate them on the basis of logical consistency. A healthier recognition of the limits of FME, and the role of politics, would serve their agenda better.

The ideology also infects Anderson and Leal's language -- "bureaucrats" not "administrators" or "government officials," for example -- and, as another reviewer points out, they'd rather just deny the existence of global warming because the problem is not amenable to market solutions.

The global warming example also highlights that the FME "solutions" to tough problems often involve mitigation, not solution. For example, Anderson and Leal propose that the US stop subsidizing beachfront development so that sea-level rise and greater hurricane frequency do not damage even more property than otherwise. That's a fine point, but it does nothing to address the underlying problem of global warming.

That said, the book is very much reading, especially if you are predisposed to dislike it. FME can enrich the toolkit of the environmental community, and can also point the pragmatic part of that community toward reducing political opposition to various environmental programs. Even if you're skeptical of markets, you shouldn't be scared to read about them.

23 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A new approach to saving the environment, August 12, 2001

By 

"jposkey" (Stanford U., CA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Free Market Environmentalism (Paperback)

This book is a real eye-opener. It shows how sometimes the private sector is much better at protecting the environment than the government is. It builds from early examples in the 19th century up through effective private-sector efforts today. At the same time, it points out how government programs sometimes worsen the very problem they seek to correct.

Some people might not believe its notion that the private sector will always do the right thing. And, of course, it won't. However, this book is a good guide to the growing movement to find a better way to protect the environment.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great introduction, February 24, 2011

By 

Kellyrh - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Free Market Environmentalism (Paperback)

I really enjoyed this book. I am a Geography student in college and found this text entirely relevant to every issue that my professors bring up as confusing. Not so! I'm not saying that our environmental issues will be easy to fix, but they are definitely fixable using the ideas in this book. Hopefully more intellectuals will read this book and realize the actual truths vs. the truisms every politician would like them to believe.