Non-Coercive Environmentalism

Now, this is the way it should be...partnerships between businesses and environmental groups, instead of heavy-handed, destructive government edicts.

Think of what a "market" is comprised...individuals and businesses exchanging value for value. Each player participates in the exchange because they both believe they will be better off for it. This is exactly the same principle that is at work here. Businesses exchange what environmentalists value for what businesses value. In the end, both are better off than they were before. Environmental groups make progress toward their goals, while businesses receive the "green" seal of approval and improve their reputation with consumers. It's win-win...value is created for both parties.

On the other hand, government edicts destroy value by forcing businesses to exchange something of more value to the business, for something of lower value. Businesses expend resources reducing pollution, with nothing to show for it. As if that weren't enough, the cost of enforcing the edicts takes money from the hands of consumers that could be put toward more environment-friendly products. It's a lose-lose. As in nearly every other case, government inaction has been a good thing. It has allowed the market to respond by creating value, which is what markets are good at.

The holdouts who claim that environmental groups are "compromising too much" will forever be unable to come to grips with this reality. Markets are all about compromise. Any time you spend money on something you compromise whatever else may have been bought with those funds. By giving up one thing, you have gained something of greater value. The Sierra Club may not have gotten its hearts' desire of a complete ban on pollution of any kind, but rather than spending resources lobbying for this or that legislation, perhaps fruitlessly, they have actually accomplished something through compromise. Let's hope they keep it up.