March 21, 2013 — Adler argues that conservatives should favor an approach based on property rights. The best example of this? Fisheries. For years, government regulators tried in vain to tackle the problem of over-fishing. More recently, however, “catch shares” have caught on.
When it comes to the environment, Republicans these days tend to have a pretty good idea what they’re against — just about everything the Obama administration is doing. But it’s not quite as clear what they’re actually for.
Jonathan Adler wants to change all that. The law professor at Case Western University has just published a big new essay, titled “Conservative Principles for Environmental Reform,” that tries to lay out a positive vision for how the right should approach various green issues.
In the essay, Adler critiques many of the traditional regulatory approaches to issues like endangered species. Clumsy regulations often have unintended consequences. But historically, he notes, conservatives have failed to come up with an alternative. There’s either “moderate me-too-ism,” which involves embracing regulations on a lesser scale. Or there’s “reflexive opposition” — the current GOP stance — which often means ignoring actual environmental problems.
Read the full opinion piece at the Washington Post