Nature vs. Prosperity
According to many hardcore environmentalists, we need to downgrade our lifestyles in order to save the planet. We need to eat tofu, live in tiny houses, and ride bicycles in the rain. And we need thousands of new regulations to make everyone comply. As a result many conservatives and libertarians dismiss deep environmentalism and even science as a socialist plot.
This is sad, as conservatives were the original conservationists.
How about preserving nature and liberty at the same time? How about more nature and prosperity? Politically, this is the more realistic vision, as setting aside wildlands and preserving certain species is really a luxury. There are, however, technical and economic challenges to make this win-win vision realistic. In these article series, I show it can be done.
Stop Global Warming. How do you stop global warming when a sizeable fraction of the population thinks the warnings are overblown or even an outright hoax? Answer: start with the solutions that are worth doing even if global warming turns out to be a false alarm. There are quite a few.
Alternative Energy for Fun and Profit. Why wait for the skeptics to change their minds? Why wait for legislation? There are opportunities to make renewable energy useful – and maybe even profitable – right now. This series reveals some unusual potential markets such as ethanol fuels for the country club set and biofuels for dapper Republicans.
Restore the Cities. Want to save energy on transportation? Encourage people to live closer to work! This can be done gently – and conservatively – by making cities better places to live. This series has the potential to make the Republican Party viable in our big cities again. (One party politics is generally a Bad Idea.)
Affordable Organic Food. Fully organic food is expensive – too expensive for most consumers. Time for some “degrees of naturalness.”
Sustainable Economics – a Conservative Approach. Usually the term “sustainable” evokes images of hippies and vegetarian socialists. But this need not be. There’s plenty in the conservative playbook to cut down on needless consumerism! Forced consumption began with the New Deal after all.
Save the Critters. Today, most environmental publications, shows, and web sites try to relate everything to global warming. While global warming may well be a looming nightmare, the loss of biodiversity is a crisis right now. Here’s a reminder of some conservative-friendly tools to save endangered species.
