Environment
WPC's Center for the Environment brings balance to the environmental debate by promoting the idea that human progress and prosperity work in a free economy to protect the environment.
Publications
Why The Lorax Loves Forestry
“From outside in the fields came a sickening smack of an axe on a tree.
Then we heard the tree fall. The very last Truffula tree of them all.”
–From The Lorax, Dr. Seuss
Climate Plans Haven't Paid Off. So Why Are Greens Claiming 'Success'?
Publicola published this column on March 27, 2012.
"We are entering a new era in street lighting," Superintendent Jorge Carrasco said. "LEDs use 40 percent less energy and last three times longer than the high-pressure sodium lights that have been the standard for the past 30 years."
– Seattle City Light
Using the Free Market to Move Environmental Policy from Eco-Fads to Science
Todd Myers gave the following address at the Seattle Rotary Luncheon on March 7, 2012.
Key Findings
Proposals to Impose Drug Take-back Mandate Would Increase Health Care Costs and Do Little for the Environment
Introduction
Proposals to force collection of unused pharmaceuticals claim such mandates are needed to protect ground water quality, stating: “Disposing of medicines by flushing them down the toilet or placing them in the garbage can lead to the contamination of groundwater and other bodies of water, contributing to long-term harm to the environment and to animal life.” There is no firm evidence, however, that this is an accurate description of how pharmaceutical elements end up in groundwater.
Background
'Toxics' Proposals Would Prioritize Ignorance over Science and Increase Environmental Risk
In 2007, the Legislature, responding to lobbying by environmental activists, banned flame-retardant compounds known as PBDEs. The activists claimed the compounds created a risk of health problems that outweighed the safety benefit to consumers. Four years later, the environmental activists are back, arguing the flame retardants that replaced the banned PBDEs, known as “Tris,” should also be banned. The new bill, HB 2266, would not only ban Tris, but a number of other useful compounds as well, and would require companies to make a list of alternatives that could be used in the future.
Personal Car Sharing
What if a stupendous business opportunity were hiding in plain sight? What if this opportunity would bring environmental and social dividends? And what if a simple legal change would unleash it?
Personal car sharing is just that: a chance to trim emissions and fuel costs, while generating profit for car owners and giving everyone a new way to save money. Only one legal barrier—a change to insurance regulations—stands in the way.
What Is It
Ineffective Eco-Fads and Unproductive New Taxes Put Carbon Reductions At Risk
Everyone wants to help the environment, but blindly following trendy environmental fads can often do more harm than good. Eco-fads squander precious resources and waste the opportunity to adopt more beneficial strategies.
One of the most common errors made by environmental activists is to believe that only radical revolutions make an environmental difference. In fact, environmental improvement comes incrementally as we find ways to do more with less.
Will Occupy Target Green Cronyism, Too?
USA Today published this column on November 1, 2011
Here is a pop quiz for people who support the Occupy Wall Street movement: Which U.S. senator wrote the following statement in 2009, in the midst of the current financial mess?
Weatherization Stimulus Programs Fail to Deliver Promised Jobs
Claim
“Working with community and industry partners, our city has put together an aggressive and innovative strategy to create green jobs, save energy, and reduce carbon emissions through deep investments in energy efficiency,” said McGinn.
“Seattle to receive $20 million for financing energy efficiency projects,” City of Seattle Press Release, April, 2010.
“Washington state is using our recovery money as it’s intended, and because of that – we’ve been recognized and awarded additional funding,” Gregoire said.
How the Rise of Trendy Environmentalism Is Harming the Planet
The Seattle Times posted this column on September 6, 2011.
"GREEN is a trend and people go with trends. ... I don't think people know the real facts."
These words of a green consumer reported in The New York Times last year echo what we see everywhere: environmentalism has become trendy, and green fashion is all the rage.
