Libertarian Papers

A Journal of Philosophy, Politics, and Economics

  • Home
  • Aims & Scope
    • Editors & Editorial Board
    • Submissions
  • Podcasts
  • Print & Ebook Versions
  • News and Updates
  • Subscribe
  • LP Store
  • Contact

10. Free Markets, Property Rights and Climate Change: How to Privatize Climate Policy

Abstract: The goal has been to devise a strategy that protects as much as possible the rights and liberties of all agents, both users of fossil fuels and people whose livelihoods and territories are at risk if the anthropogenic global warming (AGW) hypothesis is true. To achieve this goal the standard climate policy instruments, taxes and emissions trading, should be discontinued. There are weaknesses in the theoretical perspectives used to justify these policy instruments and climate science cannot provide the knowledge that would be needed to justify their implementation. In their place I propose a privatised policy, based on Austrian and libertarian frameworks of thought, which share an interpretation of climate change as a putative interpersonal conflict rather than market failure. The use of fossil fuels, like any other economic activity, should be subject to side-constraints designed to avoid the infringement of other people’s property rights. Tort litigation on the basis of strict liability would protect these rights, insofar as they need protecting. By providing a public arena for the competitive testing of scientific hypotheses concerning climate change, such litigation would also promote the public understanding and even the advancement of climate science.

Download Paper: Free Markets, Property Rights and Climate Change: How to Privatize Climate Policy

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X

April 2, 2011, By Stephan Kinsella (Editor) Filed Under: Libertarian Papers, Volume 3 (2011)

Search

Journal Archives

  • Volume 10 (2018)
  • Volume 9 (2017)
  • Volume 8 (2016)
  • Volume 7 (2015)
  • Volume 6 (2014)
  • Volume 5 (2013)
  • Volume 4 (2012)
  • Volume 3 (2011)
  • Volume 2 (2010)
  • Volume 1 (2009)

News and Updates

  • David Gordon’s JLS EditorialMay 29, 2022
  • Volume 9 of Libertarian Papers is Now Available in Print |August 10, 2018
  • Volume 8 of Libertarian Papers is Now Available |April 24, 2017
  • Jakub Wiśniewski Joins the Libertarian Papers Editorial Board |April 12, 2017
  • Libertarian Papers Archived by the Library of Congress |July 11, 2016
Contributor Login

Copyright © 2025 · Libertarian Papers