Over the last three decades America has increasingly looked to the federal government to protect the environment. Yet laws such as the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, Superfund, and The Endangered Species Act have proven costly and disappointingly ineffective. Cascade Policy Institute examines current approaches to managing the environment and recommends policy reforms that encourage better stewardship.
Cascade's approach, sometimes called "free-market environmentalism," emphasizes the importance of wealth creation and incentives in environmental protection. The Institute shows how greater wealth gives us the wherewithal to solve environmental problems, while private property ownership and market forces offer incentives for individuals to conserve resources. When coupled with an appropriate liability system, property rights can also prevent individuals and companies from damaging land and property they do not own as well.
Cascade Policy Institute has been a leader in promoting free-market environmentalism in Oregon, by hosting speakers, publishing papers and offering invited testimony before various public bodies. In 1997, Cascade deepened its commitment to this issue by hiring one of Oregon's most prominent environmentalists, John A. Charles, to work full-time as the Institute's environmental policy director. Prior to joining Cascade, John spent 20 years working in the environmental movement, first in New York, and then for 16 years as director of the Oregon Environmental Council.
Cascade's approach, sometimes called "free-market environmentalism," emphasizes the importance of wealth creation and incentives in environmental protection. The Institute shows how greater wealth gives us the wherewithal to solve environmental problems, while private property ownership and market forces offer incentives for individuals to conserve resources. When coupled with an appropriate liability system, property rights can also prevent individuals and companies from damaging land and property they do not own as well.
Cascade Policy Institute has been a leader in promoting free-market environmentalism in Oregon, by hosting speakers, publishing papers and offering invited testimony before various public bodies. In 1997, Cascade deepened its commitment to this issue by hiring one of Oregon's most prominent environmentalists, John A. Charles, to work full-time as the Institute's environmental policy director. Prior to joining Cascade, John spent 20 years working in the environmental movement, first in New York, and then for 16 years as director of the Oregon Environmental Council.
