The Free Market and the Environment

by Dean Ohlman
My own personal bent regarding economics is toward the traditional capitalistic, free-market system of the United States. Call me a born-and-bred conservative, Republican capitalist.

However, after a great deal of research, reading, and theological study, I’ve come to believe that the recommended free-market approach to our environmental problems will not work without a new paradigm in economics. I now believe that the only approach capable of addressing the degradation of our environment is stewardship economics – one that recognizes that the natural world has been given to us by the Creator as a trust and that protecting the environment is primarily an issue of personal conviction and responsibility. We must individually examine our way of living and then make the proper changes to ensure that the earth will be able to sustain all its inhabitants in good health and happiness. Certainly we may continue to operate economically by most free-market principles, but at the same time we must avoid the following shortcomings common to contemporary free-market economics in the West.
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