Colarelli is right to say that liberals have become conservatives in their desire to keep nature from changing. His critique of conservatives falls flat, however, because he fails to consider the merits of free-market environmentalism, which emphasizes the use of private-property rights and economic incentives to foster environmental protection.

Jane S. Shaw is retired President of the John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy and Senior Fellow Emeritus at the Property and Environment Research Center (PERC)
Energy and the EnvironmentEnvironmental Law and RegulationGovernment and PoliticsLaw and LibertyPolitical TheoryProperty Rights, Land Use, and Zoning
Other Independent Review articles by Jane S. Shaw
Spring 2013 The Locavore’s Dilemma: In Praise of the 10,000-Mile Diet
Fall 2010 Education—A Bad Public Good?
Summer 2009 Montessori, Dewey, and Capitalism: Educational Theory for a Free Market in Education
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