Earth Day Links

Today is the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, a time to highlight and discuss ways to work toward a cleaner planet. Cato’s energy and environment research promotes policies that would help protect the environment without sacrificing economic liberty, goals that are mutually supporting, not mutually exclusive.

• Why we should thank capitalism for environmental gains: “It is businessmen — not bureaucrats or environmental activists — who deserve most of the credit for the environmental gains over the past century and who represent the best hope for a Greener tomorrow.”

• Finding the right balance: “Today, America’s environment is cleaner — and Earth Day has indeed helped ensure that. …We should renew our promise to keep the environment clean — without adding to human misery or stalling improvements in the human condition.”

• Want clean air? Try this.

• Is high‐​speed rail really an environmentally friendly alternative to driving and air travel? “Planners have predicted that a proposed line in Florida would use more energy and emit more of some pollutants than all of the cars it would take off the road.”