Natural Lite

Fearing environmentalists, Newt Gingrich is pushing both bad policy and bad politics.

Rick Henderson from the October 1996 issue

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And there are geographic factors to consider. Land-use issues resonate much more with Western voters than with those in the East. A number of Western House freshmen won by razor-thin margins in 1994. For them, the support of property rights advocates may have secured their victories. In the East, by contrast, moderate Republicans have fairly safe seats. They're winning on a host of issues, not just because of their green votes. And DiVall numbers oversimplify the situation. A July survey sponsored by The Polling Company for the Competitive Enterprise Institute asked voters their preferences for regulating endangered species on private property. Only 11 percent preferred the current practice of restricting land use without compensation. One-third supported some mixture of regulation and compensation. But 49 percent would "do away with government regulation entirely and instead have the government offer incentives to keep endangered species on their property."

As Democratic pollster Celinda Lake told the June 1 National Journal, "If one ever lets the Republicans convince voters that either the Democrats or the environmental groups are anti-private property, then I think it could be a very dangerous issue."

Many policy analysts compare today's perceptions about market-based environmentalism to the welfare debate a decade ago. Back then conservatives and libertarians opposed welfare because it is wasteful or because they believe coercively redistributing income is wrong. Those arguments fell mostly on deaf ears. But anecdotal evidence and solid academic research have shown that welfare hurts people on public assistance --leading to dependency, high rates of illegitimacy, and an entrenched underclass. It's now possible to advocate ending welfare and still be perceived as a friend of the poor.

Lynn Scarlett, the Reason Foundation's vice president for research, has been working with conservationists, free market analysts, and advocates of traditional regulation to develop and promote a new approach to environmentalism--one that appreciates the different values individuals place on environmental protection and that emphasizes true decentralism and market incentives. Scarlett says that Boehlert and the pro-regulatory crowd, much like the welfare-state advocates of 10 years ago, are wedded to existing federal regulations. Boehlert and other GOP enviros, she says, "equate passing a law, say, the Clean Water Act, with protecting the environment. [To them], any attempt to dismantle current regulations dismantles environmental protection."

Advocates of market-based environmentalism must demonstrate that protecting private property, encouraging stewardship, and using incentives and flexible alternatives to regulation actually improve environmental quality. "We must sever the link between the edifice of the regulatory state and the goal of environmental protection," says Scarlett.

Of course, Gingrich's immediate concern is building on the slender 35-seat majority the Republicans hold in Congress. But would a "natural lite" agenda accomplish that? Several prominent House property rights advocates--Helen Chenoweth (Idaho), J.D. Hayworth (Ariz.), Frank Riggs (Calif.), and Doc Hastings (Wash.)--are in closer-than- expected re-election campaigns. The absence of endangered-species and other environmental reforms doesn't please the folks back home. "These folks don't have anything to take home to their constituents," laments Chuck Cushman, executive director of the American Land Rights Association. "Newt acts like he's running for minority leader." It is possible that any Republican gains in the South will be matched by losses in the West-- and that suburban Southern freshmen will be less persistent about environmental reforms than their rural Western predecessors.

And if Gingrich hoped the task force would generate a stream of consensus reforms, he's got to be disappointed. Congress did streamline regulations by passing a new Safe Drinking Water Act, revising rules on fishing for "dolphin-safe" tuna, and overhauling the Delaney Clause, which governs the levels of cancer-causing substances allowed in food. But reauthorization of the massive Superfund program won't happen this year. Nor will a new Endangered Species Act or the property rights and regulatory reforms promised in the Contract with America. And because greens on the task force can veto any major changes in policy, Riegle says she would be happy if nothing further comes to the floor this year. "Anything that would pass [the task force] would be so watered down it would do no good," she says.

Without saying so openly, the task force members most sympathetic to market- oriented reforms suggest that only outside pressure will get the reform agenda back on track. Pombo staffer Mike Hartiman says his boss will push for takings compensation next year. Tauzin, who championed takings bills as a Democrat before switching parties last year, says, "Those people who believe that individuals should be compensated [for takings of private property] should make that a central issue in this campaign. If their candidates [for Congress] won't support these issues, then find ones who will."

The task force may stifle any substantive environmental reforms this Congress. But will it continue to command the legislative agenda next year? "Absolutely," says Boehlert Press Secretary Siobhan Dugan. "It's the speaker's call," says Hartiman of Pombo's staff. If Republicans retain control of Congress, how Gingrich answers that question will determine whether the speaker really is a revolutionary or if instead he prefers to carry water for the environmental establishment.

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