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Cap and Trade vs. the Carbon Tax
Friday, June 13, 2008 5:09 PM

[Cross-posted on the parent blog ] So I've been addressing the issue of anthropogenic climate change for some time now, and I haven't said much in the way of addressing specific policy proposals. But I was just given a delightful present by one of my fellow FEE associates: a copy of the American Institute for Economic Research's latest Economic Education... Read More...

by Donny with an A | with no comments

Filed under: Justice, Climate Change, Appropriation and Environmentalism, Economics, Emergent Problems, Compensation

Another Double Standard Between Governments and Individuals?
Friday, June 13, 2008 5:07 PM

[Cross-posted...a while ago...on the parent blog ] So today was my first day at the Foundation for Economic Education, where I'll be interning over the summer, and I've already had some excellent debates; this is going to be a fantastic experience. Everyone seems really passionate and interesting, and I'm sure I'm going to learn a lot from everyone... Read More...

by Donny with an A | with no comments

Filed under: Justice, Property Rights, Liberty

The Responsibility Principle vs. Breach of Duty
Friday, June 13, 2008 5:05 PM

[Cross-posted...a while ago...on the parent blog ] So I stumbled upon a really jarring debate today. I'm sort of puzzled that I haven't already heard of this issue, and am suspicious that someone might just be able to explain to me why there isn't any problem, and I'm just confused. But in any case, here's the issue. It seems that in our current... Read More...

by Donny with an A | with no comments

Filed under: Justice, Compensation

Generational Rights
Monday, May 05, 2008 5:40 PM

[Cross-posted on the parent blog ] The conclusion that we cannot infringe upon future people’s right by causing climate change may not appeal to individuals who see injustice in the fact that by causing climate change, the world we leave behind for future people could be substantially less hospitable than it would have been if presently existing people... Read More...

by Donny with an A | with no comments

Filed under: Justice, Climate Change, The Non-Identity Problem, Opportunity

Rights for Future People in Light of the Non-Identity Problem
Sunday, May 04, 2008 5:08 PM

[Cross-posted on the parent blog ] To this point, we have identified rights-infringements as occurring where climate change causes the climate system to become more dangerous. It might seem, then, that wherever the impacts of a more dangerous climate system are felt, rights will be infringed, into perpetuity. After all, the mere passage of time between a cause... Read More...

by Donny with an A | 2 comment(s)

Filed under: Justice, Climate Change, The Non-Identity Problem

Climate Change and the Right to Culture
Tuesday, April 29, 2008 3:30 PM

[Cross-posted on the parent blog ] The Right to an Opportunity for Cultural Integration Focusing only on property damage caused by climate change, it may be noted, seems to leave out a large part of the picture of why people are concerned about climate change. In addition to the impacts discussed so far, many would find objection the fact that climate change... Read More...

by Donny with an A | with no comments

Filed under: Justice, Climate Change, Opportunity, Lifestyles

A First Glance at What Rights Could Be Infringed by Climate Change
Monday, April 28, 2008 3:18 PM

[Cross-posted on the parent blog ] Climatic Shifts and the Right to Environmental Conditions The most obvious kind of rights infringement which could be caused by climate change involves damage done directly to individuals and property by environmental phenomena. Easiest to think about are the shifts in “normal” environmental conditions which are... Read More...

by Donny with an A | with no comments

Filed under: Justice, Property Rights, Climate Change

Rights and Entitlements
Tuesday, April 22, 2008 12:29 AM

[Cross-posted on the parent blog ] Libertarian conceptions of justice are built around the idea that there are certain things which we may not do to people, because as individuals and ends in themselves, they are not to be used against their will for the benefit of others. These ideas are usually represented through the notion of “rights” that individuals... Read More...

by Donny with an A | with no comments

Filed under: Justice, Property Rights

What Does It Mean to Advocate a Market Solution to Climate Change?
Tuesday, April 15, 2008 1:22 AM

[Cross-posted on the parent blog ] The purpose of this post will be to tie together some ideas I've been toying around with in other posts, in order to start working towards a coherent introduction to my thesis on the libertarian approach to thinking about climate change. Here goes nothing. Moving Past the Science As a group, libertarians have not dealt well... Read More...

by Donny with an A | 3 comment(s)

Filed under: Justice, Climate Change

Intertemporal Pollution, Accountability, and Justice in Appropriation
Wednesday, April 09, 2008 3:09 PM

[Cross-posted on the parent blog ] If we are ever able to quantify the effects of pollution, we will still need to establish the degree to which particular contributors can be held accountable for those effects. It is important to recognize that in many cases, polluting acts have happened, and will continue to happen, over a long period of time. The significance... Read More...

by Donny with an A | with no comments

Filed under: Justice, Property Rights, Appropriation and Environmentalism, Opportunity

Is There a Right to Culture?
Thursday, April 03, 2008 3:52 PM

[Cross-posted on the parent blog ] Last week I had a conversation with my thesis advisor, Dr. Harry Brighouse, in which we discussed an interesting idea which I think might prove important in one way or another, and which I think is worthy of elaboration here. The idea was that a big part of what people are concerned about in discussing climate change is that... Read More...

by Donny with an A | 2 comment(s)

Filed under: Justice, Property Rights, Climate Change, Appropriation and Environmentalism, Opportunity, Lifestyles

Preemptive Compensation
Wednesday, April 02, 2008 3:26 PM

[Cross-posted on the parent blog ] One question I've been thinking about recently is the idea of preemptive compensation; that is, compensation paid in advance of a particular damaging event actually happening. I wanted to broach the subject here, as a starting point for future discussion. I'll start by sketching why the idea of preemptive compensation... Read More...

by Donny with an A | 3 comment(s)

Filed under: Justice

Balancing Benefits and Costs to Tort Victims
Wednesday, March 26, 2008 1:42 AM

[Cross-posted on the parent blog ] [It has come to my attention that I'm an idiot and apparently can't tell the difference between the word "defendant" and "plaintiff." I apologize to anyone who may have been confused by this post.] In an earlier post, I wrote: In his essay, " Science, Public Policy, and Global Warming: Rethinking... Read More...

by Donny with an A | with no comments

Filed under: Justice

Climate Change, Vanishing Lifestyles, and Children
Tuesday, March 25, 2008 7:56 PM

[Cross-posted on the parent blog ] So in a previous post , I discussed a case in which rising sea levels, resulting from a warming of the Earth, caused the salinization of a Bangladeshi farmer's land, so that he could no longer grow rice on it in the way to which he was accustomed. I concluded that as the owner of the land, with full property rights, he should... Read More...

by Donny with an A | with no comments

Filed under: Justice, Property Rights, Climate Change, Appropriation and Environmentalism, Opportunity, Lifestyles

Climate Change and Market Definition of Property Rights
Tuesday, March 25, 2008 1:35 AM

[Cross-posted on the parent blog ] A fellow named Gregory responded to my post, " Can the Free Market Solve the Problems Posed by Climate Change? " with an argument which I think deserves to be discussed in some depth. Gregory wrote: If the market has not arrived at an efficient means regulating itself (compensating those damaged) then a government... Read More...

by Donny with an A | 2 comment(s)

Filed under: Justice, Property Rights, Climate Change, Appropriation and Environmentalism, Emergent Problems