Issues: Environment

ISSUES k ADVOCACY: Environment

OOHOME | ISSUES: EVIRONMENT

OOOThe pros and cons of environmental issues do not always neatly match up. Put simply, no one is "anti-environment", though many, by opposing the aims of environmentalism, are anti-environmentalist. The debate usually comes down to how the environment and its resources are used, why they are used, who is allowed to use them, and who makes that decision. Thus, the concern for habitat, wildlife and the quality of air and water can easily run up against private property rights, economic efficiency and resistance to government regulation. This divergence of goals sometimes makes the debate seem intractable. Progress comes only with mutual respect.



	GENERAL LINKS
	Environmentalism	Anti-Environmentalist
	Earth First! Environmental & Social Issues Friends of the Earth Green Peace Izaak Walton League of America League of Conservation Voters Natural Resources Defense Council Sierra Club Worldwatch Institute	Ayn Rand Institute: Environmentalism Cato Institute: Natural Resources & Environmental Studies EnviroTruth Science & Environmental Policy Project
	Other
	National Library for the Enviromment OOOLists Congressional Research Service reports on the environment. CRS reports are non-partisan research papers prepared by the Libravy of Congress for the use of members of Congress.

p	CLEAN AIR / CLEAN WATER
	Requires Regulatory Remediation	No Risk or Manageable without Regulation
	American Lung Association: Air Quality American Rivers Clean Air Campaign Clean Water Action Clean Water Network Coalition for Clean Air
	Other
	How Stuff Works: How Ozone Pollution Works

p	CLIMATE CHANGE
	A Danger	Non-Existent, Irrelevant or Beneficial
	Climate Ark Climate Institute Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Pew Center on Global Climate Change Union of Concerned Scientists: Global Warming U.S. PIRG: Global Warming World Wildlife Fund Climate Change Program Woods Hole Research Center: Warming of the Earth	American Petroleum Institute: Global Climate Competitive Enterprise Institute: Global Warming Petition Project: Environmental Effects of Increased CO2 Reason Public Policy Institute: The Science of Climate Change
	Other
	Almanac of Policy Issues: Global Warming OOOSynopsis and links. Check the archive, scroll down to Environment. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administratrion: Global Warming OOOHighly-respected NOAA data must be tempered with an awareness of the current administration's highly skepticalapproach to global warming and climate change. New Scientist: Climate Change OOONews and articles on the subject, plus interesting information under "Background and Guides to the Main Issues". U.S. Global Change Research Information Office OOOGovernmental research on climate change. Not an easy site to navigate. Current documents stress the need for further research and outline research proposals. Older documents appear far more definitive. This might reflect different approaches to the question of climate change taken by two different presidential administrations. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Global Warming OOOUser-friendly page providing data and covering many aspects of the issue. The name is now "Climate Change" reflecting the current political environment.

p	ENDANGERED SPECIES / BIODIVERSITY
	Environmentalist	Anti-Environmentalist
	Defenders of Wildlife Global Issues: Biodiversity Sierra Club: Species & Habitat National Wildlife Federation World Resources Institute: Biodiversity World Wildlife Fund: Endangered Species Programme
	Other
	EndangeredSpecie.com OOOLists of species by state with links and some discussion of issues. International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources Red List OOOExtensive lists of endangered species and their status. United Nations Environmental Programme/World Conservation Monitoring Centre OOOSpecies database by country. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service: Endangered Species Program

p	ENVIRO-CAPITALISM OOOThough we do not usually take issue with issues, it should be pointed out that while some consider Enviro-captalism a new approach to environmental issues, others consider it no approach at all. In other words, do Enviro-capitalism and traditional environmentalism simply represent two different means to the same end, or are the perspective goals of the two movements demonstratively, and perhaps irreconcilably, different? OOOYou decide.
	Pro	Anti
	Cato Institute: Natural Resources & Environment Center for Free Market Environmentalism Competitive Enterprise Institute: Environment Heartland Institute: Environment New Environmentalism The Thoreau Institute

p	DEEP ECOLOGY OOODeep Ecology might be considered the antithesis of Enviro-capitalism. While the latter seeks to define, and preserve, the environment solely in terms of its market value to humans and its efficient use, Deep Ecology rejects the idea of treating the enviroment as a commodity at all. It admits the use of nature and natural resources for vital interests only, i.e., for food clothing and shelter, and anything beyond that anthropocentric and illegitimate.
	Pro	Con
	Ecospheric Ethics Foundation for Deep Ecology Institute for Deep Ecology	The Green Fuse: Deep Ecology Critique

p	HABITAT / LAND & WATER USE
	Environmentalist	Anti-Environmentalist
	American Rivers Center for Biological Diversity: Deserts Forest Conservation Portal Living Rivers National Public Lands Grazing Campaign The Nature Conservancy Oceana The Wilderness Society	Blue Ribbon Coalition Property Rights Research
	Other
	Cattle Grazing on Public Lands OOOObjective discussion from quirky web site, The Beckoning. Cato Institute: Beyond the Grazing Fee, An Agenda for Rangeland Reform OOO1995 paper offering a conservative alternative to the status quo. CRS Report for Congress: The Property Rights Issue OOOIntelligent discussion from the Congressional Research Service.