Other environmental groups, including Greenpeace, argue against any scheme that acknowledges the right to own a natural resource - in essence, a property right. For free marketeers at PERC, this would be an important step toward letting commercial markets and property rights help protect the environment. While this coming together of interests is unusual, it is not unique. Maine salmon farms spawn environmental concerns. In this country, selling the right to cut timber on national forests for less than it's worth loses money for the federal Treasury and threatens biodiversity.
Regulatory gridlock can delay cleanup and end up costing more.
Increasingly, advocates on both sides of this ecology-economy divide are finding ways to cooperate. One example is North Carolina's Tar-Pamlico River Basin Association. Heavy runoff of phosphates and nitrates from farms, dairies, and timber operations was found to have killed millions of fish due to oxygen depletion caused by nutrients in the rivers. A system of nutrient caps and pollutant trading was developed that improved water quality - at a fraction of the estimated cost. On the other hand, it's a trend that in fact has accelerated during the Clinton years.