Most Americans believe there are environmental issues in the United States. The behind-the-scenes debate is over the best way to fix the problems. Should the government dictate standards and impose penalties or should industry have a chance to play a part?
Terry Anderson, executive director of Political Economy Research Center (PERC), a Bozeman, Montana think-tank focusing on market solutions to environmental problems, will argue for free-market environmentalism at WSU next month. Anderson presents his case at 3:10 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 3, in Todd Hall, Room 125.
“Terry Anderson and PERC have had important influences on presidents and national policy-makers for the past twenty years. It is very likely their research and views will be taken into consideration as decisions are made about the environment,” says Ed Weber, director of The Foley Institute and associate professor of political science at Washington State. “It is vitally important to anyone concerned about the environment to know the arguments concerning the best way to correct the problems.”
According to Weber, the United States has used a government-oriented “top down” approach to environmental problems since the late 1960s. Experts within government agencies decide the issues and dictate the method of cleanup, including the technology to be used. And, there are the penalties. Industry has had no say and no choice.
Anderson will argue for the benefits of a market-based approach with incentives for solving environmental problems and managing natural resources.
Anderson is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and professor emeritus at Montana State University. He is the author or editor of 24 books, including “Free Market Environmentalism” (Pacific Research Institute 1991), and “Enviro-Capitalists: Doing Good While Doing Well” (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers 1997), both cowritten with Donald Leal. His recent books include the revised edition of “Free Market Environmentalism” and “The Greening of U.S. Foreign Policy,” which he coedited.
