POLITICAL ENVIRONMENTALISM (HOOVER INST PRESS PUBLICATION) [Paperback]

Terry L. Anderson (Author)

Book Description

Series: HOOVER INST PRESS PUBLICATION | Publication Date: May 3, 2000

In Political Environmentalism, Terry Anderson and his contributors show how environmental special interests have indeed provided the high moral ground for economic special interests who stand to gain from legislation that hampers competition. The book documents a range of examples of how politics and environmentalism mix to produce strange bedfellows and perverse results. It shows for instance, how clean air and water legislation based on technology standards actually results in dirtier air and higher costs to consumers. It tells how wilderness designations and Superfund sites are usually determined more by economic interests than by any other factor. And it reveals how the Endangered Species Act puts property up for grabs in the political arena—doing little to save species but consuming considerable resources in the process.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"For the past thirty years, citizens have naively accepted political environmentalism as the main, if not the only, way of solving environmental problems.... Perhaps the time has come to give free market environmentalism a chance"--Terry L. Anderson

Over the past three decades, the environmental movement has consistently taken the high moral ground, calling for political action in the name of the public interest. But while legislation such as the Wilderness Act, the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, and Superfund has been put on a pedestal above public interest, the fact remains that environmentalists are simply one more special-interest group, lobbying for laws that suit their needs regardless of the net effect on society--and driving legislation that costs the American economy billions of dollars a year.

In Political Environmentalism, Terry Anderson and his contributors show how environmental special interests have indeed provided the high moral ground for economic special interests who stand to gain from legislation that hampers competition. The book documents a range of examples of how politics and environmentalism mix to produce strange bedfellows and perverse results. It shows, for instance, how clean air and water legislation based on technology standards actually results in dirtier air and higher costs to consumers. It tells how wilderness designations and Superfund sites are usually determined more by economic interests than by any other factor. And it reveals how the Endangered Species Act puts property rights up for grabs in the political arena--doing little to save species but consuming considerable resources in the process.

Throughout the book, Political Environmentalism boldly confronts specific environmental laws, asking whether they were motivated by environmental concerns, whether they achieve their goals, whether they are cost-effective--and, most important, whether they in fact generate perverse results.

About the Author

Terry L. Anderson is the Martin and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University; executive director, Political Economy Research Center, Bozeman, Montana; and a retired professor, Department of Agricultural Economics and Economics, Montana State University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Hoover Institution Press (May 3, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0817997520
• ISBN-13: 978-0817997526
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,590,227 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)