According to some environmentalists, the world's ocean fishing areas are an example of the "tragedy of the commons." Commons are unowned areas open to all; the oceans are open to the fishing fleets of all nations or, in coastal areas, an unlimited number of domestic fishermen. Since they have no property right to the fish, commercial fishers have no incentive to conserve them; instead, they are in competition to harvest as much as possible -- with devastating results.
However, government regulators are beginning to understand that access to fisheries must be limited and fishermen given a vested interest in conserving fish populations.
Technologies that have become commercially affordable, such as sonar and satellite tracking, make marking boundaries and tagging fish to identify their owners practical.
Source: Michael De Alessi, "Emerging Technologies and the Private Stewardship of Marine Resources," January 1996, Center for Private Conservation, Competitive Enterprise Institute, 1001 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20036, (202) 331-1010.
If the earth's climate does warm moderately over the next few decades, Americans would benefit from improved health and quality of life.
Based on an analysis of data on mortality, illness and wage rates:
A 1995 report by the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) expressed concern that increases in heat waves would cause a rise in deaths from cardiorespiratory complications, vector-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue and yellow fevers.
But the IPCC report also acknowledged global warming would result in fewer cold-related deaths. In addition, a 1992 IPCC report found that over this century in much of the world winter and night temperatures have risen while summer temperatures have fallen.
Source: Thomas Gale Moore, "Health and Amenity Effects of Global Warming," Working Paper No. E-96-1, January 1996, Hoover Institution, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, (415) 723-0603.
The latest "strange bedfellows" of politics are some Republicans, big business and the environmental lobby. They recently met to discuss changes to a bill by Rep. James Saxton (R-NJ) to reauthorize the Endangered Species Act. Critics call this attempt to "save the environment" nothing more than a power grab by the privileged classes.
Under another provision of the act, known as the "Habitat Conservancy Plan," authorities can stop landowners from using their property until the owners set aside another parcel for preservation.
Big businesses can afford these costs and are willing to pay them, since they drive out competition from younger, smaller firms.
Clearly, the trees represent their retirement nest eggs, and regulations of this nature could wipe them out.
Source: Alston Chase, "Misalliance Under Cover of Green," Washington Times, April 6, 1996.
Despite media praise of a new book, "Our Stolen Future," there's little or no science to back up the claim that man-made chemicals are reducing animal and human sperm counts.
The far more likely culprits? Natural agents. For example, in a monograph just released by the Competitive Enterprise Institute, Jonathan Tolman documents in great depth the plight of Australian sheep which are being sterilized by a species of clover containing estrogen-mimicking compounds. Such chemicals are common in the plant world:
Perhaps the "Stolen Future" methodology was best summed up by one of its authors, Dianne Dumanoski: "I've become even more crafty about finding the voices to say the things I think are true. That's my subversive mission."
Source: Michael Fumento (Reason magazine), Investor's Business Daily, April 11, 1996.
A number of observers predict that this year's "Earth Day" will simply be used, once again, to stress the themes of self-described "environmentalists" that economic growth is bad because it uses up land and resources, while allowing the human population to expand at the expense of other living things. Many of them no doubt agree with the Unabomber, who began his manifesto by labeling the Industrial Revolution as a disaster for the human race.
Others point out, however, there was no environmental Eden before the Industrial Revolution and economic growth is the environment's best friend.
An article by Curtis Runnels in the March 1995 issue of Scientific American dispels the myth of early man as an environmental hero.
To the contrary, research indicates that economic growth is good for the environment.
A Princeton study demonstrates that once a country's per capita gross domestic product reaches $8,000 (in 1985 dollars), economic growth leads to environmental improvement as more efficient production methods and more environmentally friendly technologies adopted.
Studies have charted energy consumption and tracked it with improvements in GDP.
Source: Bruce Bartlett (National Center for Policy Analysis), "Environmental Eden," Washington Times, April 22, 1996.
Congress is overdue on reauthorizing Superfund -- a trust fund administered by the Environmental Protection Agency and meant to pay for the cleanup of chemical waste sites. Reauthorization is dragging on because almost no one likes the program. Environmentalists say it's too weak, and business complains about the taxes to support it.
Critics say the reason for such a poor record stems, in part, from the standard of liability established under the law.
So Superfund generates a multitude of lawsuits -- which not only delay cleanup but also run up costs.
Advocates of Superfund reform suggest several changes to avoid or reduce these problems.
These major reforms would speed cleanup while cutting costs, reformers say.
Source: Perspective, "The Superfund Albatross," Investor's Business Daily, April 23, 1996.
According to economists, it isn't true that a barrel of oil used today means less for the future and that oil is becoming increasingly scarce. Since the price of oil has been well above the cost of extracting and refining it for many years, oil is actually becoming less scarce.
The greatest obstacle to oil production is government. However, oil-producing countries are privatizing their state-owned oil companies and lowering energy taxes. Thus there is likely to be more oil and lower prices at the end of 1996 than at the beginning.
Source: Steve H. Hanke, "Oil Prices Are Going Down," Forbes, February 26, 1996.
Environmental Protection Agency watchers say it has made some progress recently in responding to criticisms of its heavy-handed regulatory approach. But it still has a long way to go, and election year politics threaten future progress.
Some of the areas where the EPA has made reforms:
It has also proposed to change the way it rates cancer risks, moving away from the theory that if lab animals get cancer after enormous doses of a substance, humans are also at risk. Critics charge that this method ignores the long-held view in health research that the dose makes the poison.
Nevertheless, EPA does not want to alienate its core environmental constituency and has taken steps to shore up support there.
Apart from the disputes on substance, the GOP charges that EPA is playing hardball politics. They say 35 of the 36 cities favored by the EPA for Earth Day celebrations were in media markets of a targeted Republican candidate, a vulnerable Democrat, or an open seat. And internal EPA memos contrast the Clinton administration with "the anti-environment leadership in Congress."
Source: Daniel J. Murphy, "Overhauling Enviro-Regulation," Investor's Business Daily, April 24, 1996.