Brazil — and its longtime disregard for property rights — has shown us how not to manage forest lands. Current calls for government solutions to forest fires do nothing to offer real solutions.
Proposals to ban single-use plastics is yet another triumph of symbolism over substance. Unfortunately, while the benefits are largely illusory, the costs are quite real.
Public lands already have value as nature preserves and tourist attractions. At the same time, the economic needs of ordinary human beings — which often require land development — shouldn't be ignored.
Having failed to show that capitalism impoverishes people, socialists have invented a new victim of material prosperity: the environment. But this latest turn is the most disturbing of all in its knee-jerk hatred for human beings and human life.
Supply, demand, and prices affect human usage of natural resources in such a way that the most scarce and valued resources are economized and preserved. The practical effect is that valuable resources never really run out.
The rhetorical framing of "climate change" is far removed from the underlying research. And the real-world costs of "doing something" are rarely considered.
