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Freedom Book of the Month
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Free-Market.Net's F r e e d o m B o o k o f t h e M o n t h
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Edited by Sunni Maravillosa. To join or leave this and other
lists, click to: http://www.free-market.net/features/lists/
* September, 2002: "Out of Bounds, Out of Control," by James V.
DeLong and "Lead Astray," by Peter Samuel
* New and notable
* The Way Back Machine: environmentalism and freedom
* Rational Review press online
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Freedom Books of the Month for September, 2002:
"Out of Bounds, Out of Control: Regulatory Enforcement at the EPA"
by James V. DeLong
Cato Institute 2002, trade paper, 111 pp. (cloth also available)
ISBN: 1-930865-29-5
"Lead Astray: Inside an EPA Superfund Disaster"
by Peter Samuel
Pacific Research Institute 2002, trade paper, 241 pp.
ISBN: 0-936488-86-7
The Johannesburg Summit on Sustainable Development is over.
According to many in the environmental movement, government and
corporations "won." I'm not sure about that, but assuming that it's
true, we're in big trouble, at least when it comes to government-led
environmentalism in the U.S. This month's Freedom Book of the Month
co-winners explain why, delivering solid indictments of the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
"Out of Bounds, Out of Control: Regulatory Enforcement at the EPA"
is a slim volume that can be read quickly, yet is loaded with data
condemnatory of the EPA. From the first page, where DeLong comments
that if the EPA were to list every entity it deals with on certain
items, every U.S. landowner would be included, to the closing
chapter addressing the uphill battle of EPA reform, the book assails
the idea that the EPA is about cleaning the environment. Where
DeLong perhaps shines brightest is in the opening chapters,
describing how completely arbitrarily EPA prosecutes "violators"
(many of whom simply cannot successfully run the maze of paperwork
the EPA requires, and are targeted for paper snafus rather than
pollution violations). Civil or criminal suits (or both),
prosecution under old law or new law, changing the interpretation
of a finding -- the method doesn't matter to the EPA; they'll do
whatever it takes to go after whomever they want.
Case after case documents that that's exactly what EPA officials do:
target those they don't like, or who don't appear submissive and
repentant enough. Why do they do this? As others before DeLong have
also pointed out, environmental quality in the U.S. was improving
*before* the EPA was established, and that trend has continued as
market forces showed that consumers value minimizing pollution. To
keep their budget and staffing in place, the EPA has to do something
to justify their expenses -- so they pad their statistics with
meaningless cases. With few serious polluters to target, the EPA has
become a bureaucratic fiefdom, wasting taxpayer money on small
pollution cases and paperwork violations. "Out of Bounds, Out of
Control" is a potent indictment of the general workings of the EPA.
"Lead Astray: Inside an EPA Superfund Disaster" is an equally strong
book, aimed directly at the EPA's incompetence in handling lead
cleanups. Peter Samuel traveled to many lead Superfund cleanup
sites, and in most cases the stories were remarkably similar:
arbitrary demands, ignorance, and the expectation that everything
the EPA wants, it gets. In concurrence with DeLong's general
observations, Samuel presents evidence that problems due to lead
in the environment have been declining, yet the EPA often zealously
pursues "offenders." Particularly egregious are the cases where
companies, upon discovery of a problem, tried to act responsibly but
were chewed up by the EPA's relentless grinding.
Samuel is a patient author, starting at the beginning and explaining
in clear language the potential problems with lead. He documents the
science of detecting lead levels and of handling various lead
hazards, and shows how the EPA often ignores these and proceeds
according to its own agenda, even when it costs millions and may
hurt rather than help. Invaluable in a book like this are the
stories where individuals and corporations successfully challenge
the EPA, and get it to stop its action or proceed in a different
direction. Samuel includes several such cases, with enough detail
that they're helpful to others who find themselves confronting an
EPA superfund cleanup.
Taken together -- and these two books play off each other very
well -- "Lead Astray" and "Out of Bounds, Out of Control" document
the persistent, pervasive problems with a state-based approach to
environmental issues. Both are fact-filled, yet accessible to a lay
audience. The tone is interesting and engaging. While neither offers
a clear solution to the problems with the EPA, the latter shows that
the EPA can be moved aside, and both encourage concerned
individuals to work at ridding this country of perhaps its largest
environmental menace -- the EPA.
Order "Out of Bounds, Out of Control" here:
http://www.free-market.net/rd/476476376.html, $8.95.
Order "Lead Astray" here:
http://www.free-market.net/rd/489558434.html, $24.95.
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New and notable
o "Drug War Addiction," by Sheriff Bill Masters
An insider's look at the failure of the war on drugs, by a
sheriff who's been on the front lines and seen the futility of it
all. Masters spins interesting and heartbreaking stories. There's
also a general discussion of libertarianism in the last chapter. A
great outreach book.
Order "Drug War Addiction" here:
http://www.free-market.net/rd/482206907.html, $10.95.
o "Collapse of a Dream: Social Effects of Economics in India and
the World," by Rayasam Prasad
Ostensibly about the devastating effects of collectivism in India,
but really a general indictment of it worldwide. Prasad points an
accusing finger at all who deserve it -- including the U.S. A bit
uneven, but very engaging and informative.
Order "Collapse of a Dream" here:
http://www.free-market.net/rd/493737078.html, $17.95.
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The Way Back Machine: Environmentalism and freedom
As I already mentioned, the Johannesburg Summit is past, to the
relief of those who were concerned about more feel-good but hollow
agendas resulting from its meetings. Reading the coverage and
commentary, I couldn't help but wonder how a movement with such good
intentions has gone so far off course. Analyzing that is left for
another day and a different forum, though. Is there any way we can
help get the environmental movement back on a sound course, one that
isn't thoroughly collectivist and inimical to human life?
The Way Back Machine provides a way, in the form of a book first
published in 1996: "Facts, Not Fear: A Parent's Guide to Teaching
Children about the Environment," by Michael Sanera and Jane Shaw.
The utility of this book reaches far beyond teaching children sound
science and ways to challenge the fear-mongering of today's greens.
Anyone who wants to counter shaky environmental claims will find
helpful suggestions and ideas in "Facts, Not Fear."
Order "Facts, Not Fear" from
http://www.free-market.net/rd/908415716.html, $14.95.
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Rational Review press online
My esteemed predecessor, Tom Knapp, has opened the Rational Review
press. It offers PDF and HTML editions of works by classic
anti-state authors, for voluntary payment. New offerings will be
coming shortly, including L. Neil Smith's "Tom Paine Maru." Check
it out!
Visit the Rational Review press:
http://www.free-market.net/rd/196668367.html
Keep doing freedom,
Sunni Maravillosa
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