5/02/2015

Do We Really Make Our Environment Worse?

Alex Epstein explains why we are not destroying the environment, using a simple time-traveler from the 1750's to prove his point.


While we have had effects on the environment, in some cases very bad effects on the environment, we passed the point where we have been lessening the effects some 40 years ago. The air is cleaner than it was. The rivers, ponds, and lakes are also cleaner than they were. The effects of pesticides and fertilizers in use have been diminishing as we have become smarter in their use.

Are we done in regards to reversing the effects of our past sins? No, of course not. But we are making progress.

However we must not buy the clap-trap passing as wisdom that we must hie back to the “good old days” of the 18th century in order to “save” the Earth. That way lies death, disease, and privation. Then again, some of the so-called environmentalists would see that as a feature, not a bug...unless they were also forced to live that way.

(H/T Walter Hudson)