Environmentalism and Energy Problems; B. Siegan

In this Bicentennial season, let us celebrate the founding princi ples of liberty and justice - not what we can get from government at someone else's expense. With self-responsibility - to each the fruits of his own labor - we can all live happily ever after. ENVIRONMENTALISM aDd ENERGY PROBLEMS BERNARD H. SIEGAN WHETHER THERE IS an energy crisis, crunch or problem, the only law that will relieve the situation is Copyright 1974 Bernard H. Siegan Mr. Siegan is the author of Land Use Without ZoninA and many articles on the subject. He practiced law for 20 years in Chicago before moving in 1973 to La Jolla, California where he is professor of law at the University of San Diego Law School. the law of supply and demand. The legislative and executive branches of government should consequent ly remove obstacles to its operation such as the many laws and regula tions adopted in the name of envir onmentalism that decrease supply and increase demand.

1975 ENVIRONMENTALISM AND ENERGY PROBLEMS 365 This 'country has been on an en vironmental binge in recent years that is now raising havoc with the environment of the average Ameri can. The nation's lawmakers have been sold on a highly restricted de finition of the word environment by those who contend it applies only to nature and the wild. For the average person, the only meaningful environment is that ex perienced daily, in the home, on the road, and at work, and we are learn ing the hard way that each requires a maximum supply of energy. In deed, what part of nature or the wild has done more for human hap piness, comfort, and well-being than a smelly, ugly, dirty oil refin ery? On the other hand, there is not now nor will there ever be an en ergy crisis for the relatively few who reject the automobile or want to go back to the earth. There was no meat shortage for vegetarians either. For people of such persua sion to make environmental deter minations is akin to appointing Bobby Riggs as spokesman for Women's Lib.

The problem is one of competing interests. Certainly clean air is a most laudable objective. In our modern society however, it doesn't come without the sacrifice of equal ly or more desirable goals. Pollu tion control devices have lowered auto emissions by reducing engine efficiency, appreciably increasing the consumption of gas and adding to the cost of purchasing and main taining a car. The use of coal or oil with high er sulphur content has been banned, further decreasing energy supply. Air pollution control requirements have raised the cost or prevented the building of new or enlarging of existing oil refineries and other fac tories. The construction of power plants, both nuclear and conven tional, and oil refineries are being blocked to preserve areas that very few Americans will ever see" hear or read about. These are a few of the examples which demonstrate that the laws passed in the name of the environ ment are actually doing a disserv ice to it. Admittedly, when they were not engaged in fighting the Alaskan pipeline, offshore drilling, strip mining, new refineries and power plants, and deep water ports, environmentalists did urge conser vation of natural resources, includ ing oil. However, their desire to conserve on the use of oil is but one small part of a much larger pack age intended to basically change the prevailing life style of the coun try. They seek a massive transfor mation of our commercial and in dustrial society.

Any solution to energy problems necessitates that laws be eliminated inhibiting production and wasting 366 THE FREEMAN June consumption. Much of the benefits of offshore oil drilling and gas and oil extraction from shale will be lost to auto and factory emission controls that are now required even in those vast portions of this coun try where there are no air pollution problems. Such requirements are unwise in the best of times; they are absurd when problems arise. Before oil can be recovered from off-coast and shale deposits, present law requires that extensive reports be prepared and public hearings be held, the principal effect of which will be to consume more paper, elec tricity, gasoline and dollars. Re gardless of the information ob tained, few minds will be changed. The oil industry will favor and the environmentalists will still oppose development. But this lengthy ritual may not cause the pumps to flow oil. En vironmental groups appear likely to file law suits and the length and effect of the litigation will deter mine when and how much oil can be recovered. Almost every effort to extract oil from new sources or to build power plants seems to bring with it loud threats from environmental groups to prevent the action through litigation. Past perform ance indicates these are not idle promises. While a suit was not filed to stop the current work on the Alaska pipeline, this was due ap parently more to concern for public opinion than for energy.

When Congress earlier in 1974 adopted statutory authority for the Alaska pipeline, it included a pro vision restricting litigation exclu sively to constitutional issues. Al though there is some question as to the validity of this restriction, it is certainly a small step. in the right direction. At the very least, the public is entitled to demand that those responsible should pay for the harm these lawsuits create. The Alaska pipeline might now be sup plying oil and would surely cost much less were it not for the lengthy litigation sponsored by en vironmentalists. All the while they vehemently deny responsibility for contribut ing to energy problems, environ mentalists do much to increase and prolong them. It is time we placed their objectives in a more realistic perspective. ~ IDEAS ON $ LIBERTY James Russell Lowell THE DEVIL loves nothing better than the intolerance of reformers, and dreads nothing so much as their charity and patience.