The non-profit foundations funding the environmental movement in America tend to be philosophically socialist, by which I mean they believe government should control the entirety of society, rather than a more limited regulation of the interactions of free individuals. A central belief of environmentalists is that the biosphere and the ecosystems transcend human life, therefore, individuals can not have a fully valid claim to ownership of property.
As the Green movement starts moving beyond Europe and the United States, however, it is running into the reality that the most extensive and ongoing destruction is occurring in countries with large populations living in poverty. Furthermore, the impoverished countries tend to be those without strong private property laws. It is probably a positive development when Eco-socialists start asking themselves: Why aren't conservationists fighting poverty?
It's a shame. Conservationists are sitting on the sidelines while the Big Game unfolds before our eyes. A major campaign is under way to change the terms of development, alleviate crushing debt, and help poor people around the world live better lives. Successes are being racked up. And conservation and environmental groups are nowhere to be seen.It would not surprise me if author Jon Christensen gets railroaded out of Stanford for advocating free and fair elections and property rights. Waiting for free people to be persuaded is a highly inefficient method of achieving political goals, and the Eco-socialists have done an excellent job of instilling a sense of urgency in their followers. The crisis threatening the environment on Earth is not particles per trillion of mercury and lead in American water. The crisis is that tyrants and dictators are keeping billions of humans trapped within bad governance.
In a study published in Nature, researchers found that poorly governed countries tend to lose biodiversity faster as corruption rises. Higher corruption correlated with loss of forest cover and, in Africa, with declines in elephant and black rhino populations.
Good governance -- which starts with free and fair elections, an independent judiciary, a free press, and property rights -- needs to be pushed further to embrace conservation of ecosystem services and biodiversity through good laws, adequate administration, and practical incentives that work for people on the land.
