New Conservative Principles for Marine Natural Resources?

The theme of the April 2013 issue of the Duke Environmental Law and Policy Forum is “Conservative Visions of Our Environmental Future.” Articles are available individual pdf files, and look interesting.

Jonathan Adler’s article, is featured in a PERC post here with the author’s introductory comments.  Interestingly, Adler argues that there is wide agreement that U.S. environmental regulations are generally broken, outdated and counterproductive. He claims that efforts to move toward environmentally-friendly market reforms are opposed more by “the right” than by environmentalists:

It is unclear whether many on the political right are prepared to engage in serious policy discussion about the future of environmental policy. While there is no shortage of complaints about centralized government regulation, few are willing to suggest alternatives. – See more at: http://perc.org/articles/conservative-principles-environmental-reform

 Adler provides an example in his article (pdf here):

The recognition of property rights in marine resources can also make it easier to adopt additional conservation measures. For instance, the adoption of catch-shares can reduce the incremental burden from the imposition of by-catch limits or the creation of marine reserves. A shift to catch-shares would have fiscal benefits as well.108 Yet in recent years, the greatest opposition to the adoption of such

property-based management regimes has not come from progressive environmentalist groups, but from Republicans in Congress.109

As the experience with fisheries shows, efforts to expand property rights to natural resources can produce positive environmental effects. (source pdf of article)