Free-market Environmentalism

Paper Summary:

This paper describes how free-market environmentalism works, identifying ways to restructure the way property owners are accountable for shared resources. The writer explains that its chief flaw is its inherent anthropocentrism. The writer discusses the cleavages between environmental professionals classified by Aldo Leopold as A and B cleavages, A being a means of economic gain through land's subordination (free-market environmentalism), and B exemplifying Leopold's idea of an ecological conscience that puts the importance of flora and fauna above human self-serving desires. The paper concludes that free-market environmentalism is flawed because it lacks an ecological conscience.

From the Paper:

"Free-market environmentalism's strength in appealing to the property owner's basic desire to maintain property value is astute, however, the theory weakens because the economy is not ecologically driven and free-market environmentalism allows unregulated property owners to make ecological decisions, which affect shared natural resources. It is unlikely that property owners with short-term economic gain in mind will consistently, or ever, make choices based upon ecological sustainability for the biotic and public health of community. Furthermore, free-market environmentalism is based upon economics, ruled by the supply and demand of natural resources; therefore, those managing the property will innately seek to ensure their investment is secure while fluctuating in market value. Plainly, it is unlikely that many property owners would be willing to take an economic loss in order to protect the biotic health of the land."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Anderson, Terry L. and Donald R. Leal. "Nature's Entrepreneurs." The Freeman (1998): November.
• Leopold, Aldo. A Sand County Almanac. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1949.
• Leopold's Land Ethic. 28 March 2008. 28 March 2008 <http://www.aldoleopold.org>.
• Nash, Roderick Frazier. Wilderness and the American Mind. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001.
• Wikipedia. Free-market environmentalism. 12 March 2008. 25 March 2008 <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Free-market_environmentalism>.

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