Academic

RON BAILEY: Got Environmental Problems? Think Government. The Gulf oil gusher may be capped (for?

By Glenn Reynolds

RON BAILEY: Got Environmental Problems? Think Government.

The Gulf oil gusher may be capped (for now), but ?many of the world’s greatest environmental catastrophes continue, with no end in sight,? according to Foreign Policy magazine. Foreign Policy lists five such catastrophes: Nigerian oil spills, Chinese coal seam fires, Haitian deforestation, desiccation of the Aral Sea, and the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

While Foreign Policy identifies five true catastrophes, it fails to grapple with the main problem behind what is causing them. So what does the Gulf oil catastrophe have in common with the five ongoing disasters? The first question you should ask whenever you see someone behaving badly with respect to the stewardship of the natural environment is: What is the government doing that encourages people to act that way? It may turn out that government policies are not at fault, but history shows that it is usually a good place to start.

Indeed. Just look at China or the former Soviet Union. . . .

Full post as published by Instapundit.com on July 21, 2010 (boomark / email).