Freedom, Society, and State - Ludwig von Mises Institute

at any particular time. It is the decision of the government
that determines how much or how little pollution
of air and water we are to have. But how does the
government arrive at these decisions? The public policy
was to treat air space and water as "free goods" unowned
by anyone. Since no one was permitted to own any
particUlar unit of the air space or water, no one had
either the incentive or even the means to prevent any
par tic u 1 a run i t fro m b e i n g des poi led • Con seq ue n t I Yf
sewage of all kinds was disposed of by dumping it into
the wa t e r 0 r byin j e c t i. n g its r ema ins i ntothe air.
But as air and water became more polluted, the government,
as owner, eventually altered its policy. Air and
water were no longer considered "free goods" equally
accessible to all, but were to be regulated by the government
in the "public interest." The question, howe
v e r, ishow mu c h 0 r h ow lit tie po II uti on is in the
" pub lie i n t e re s t " ? The go vernmen t rna y use "sc i en t i f i c
tests" to determine at what level pollution becomes a
heal th hazard and then permi t pollut ion up to that
point. But, as important as such studies are, even
t his met hod i s arb i t r a r y . S om e i n d i v i d ua I s rna y be
e s pee i a I 1 Y sensit i vet 0 po 11 uti on and wou I d pr e fer a
lower level, while others might prefer a higher level
pr ov i ded it would lead to a higher standard of 1 i ving.
At the Stockholm Conference in 1972, for example, the
less developed countries made it clear that they would
not t a k e any s t e pst 0 red u c e pol I uti 0 nth a t wo u I d
i n h i bit i n d u s t ria Idevel 0 pm en t . ( 68 ) M0 reov e r, solong
as the decision is made by the government, libertarians
feel that it will be a political decision. Most businesses
are opposed to strict pollution standards, at
least for their area of operations. And as already
noted there is no reason to believe that the interest
of the "public" will triumph over that of "business."
The interest of the "public" is diffuse and often contradictory
while that of "business" is concrete and
immediate. The automobile manufacturers, for example,
are adversely affected in an immediate and concrete way
by the impos it ion of auto-emission standards, and can
be coun t ed on to lobby strongly in oppos i t ion to them.
The "public" may be in favor of such standards. But
its interests are neither as immediate nor as concrete
a s tho s e 0 f the aut 0 rna n u fa c t u r e r s, and i tis un I ike I y
that many individuals would be willing to sacrifice the
time and money necessary to effectively counter that
group. And even some of the "public," such as those
who intend to buy new cars and would have to pay the
extra cost of the pollution equipment, might oppose
emission standards altogether. ThIS means, at best,
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