Green libertarianism is a form of

green politics Green politics, or ecopolitics, is a political ideology that aims to foster an ecologically sustainable society often, but not always, rooted in environmentalism, nonviolence, social justice and grassroots democracy. Wall 2010. p. 12-13. It b ...

. Alternately, it is a form of libertarianism in which the

free market In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any ot ...

provides environmentally beneficial (or benign) outcomes.

Marcel Wissenburg Marcel Wissenburg (born 1962) is a Dutch political theorist who is a Professor of Political Theory at Radboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands. Career Wissenburg studied political science and philosophy at the Radboud University Nijmegen (RU), w ...

(2009) maintains that proponents of the latter comprise a minority of green political theorists.

Garvan Walshe

In "Green Libertarianism" (2014), Garvan Walshe suggests that the

Lockean proviso The Lockean proviso is a feature of John Locke's labor theory of property which states that whilst individuals have a right to homestead private property from nature by working on it, they can do so only "at least where there is enough, and as ...

should account for

ecological Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

concerns. In the natural world, all organisms — including humans — acquire (make use of) natural services, which natural resources provide.Walshe 2014, p. 956. A green libertarian would preserve Locke's proviso — that a human may acquire natural services as long as it does not deprive or harm another — while acknowledging that not all natural services are abundant, and that the world is ecologically limited. Furthermore, green libertarians recognize that people cannot be used as natural services without their consent. Likewise, people cannot be deprived of their share of natural services without their consent.Walshe 2014, p. 960. In cases where natural services may be commodified, people are free to use their individual shares of a natural service as they see fit, but a person exceeding this share must negotiate with others to draw from their shares. Walshe uses an example of building a turbine along a river that might reduce others' share of the water (for example, by contaminating some of the water), but produces electricity that could compensate for the loss, so that ultimately the turbine violates no one's rights to the water. Walshe postulates that there are very few natural services which are not or cannot be commodified. Walshe's view of green libertarianism attempts to address criticisms of both right- and

left-libertarianism Left-libertarianism,Bookchin, Murray; Biehl, Janet (1997). ''The Murray Bookchin Reader''. New York: Cassell. p. 170.Goodway, David (2006). '' Anarchist Seeds Beneath the Snow: Left-Libertarian Thought and British Writers from William Morris to ...

. Walshe departs from right-libertarianism — specifically, Robert Nozick's interpretation of Locke's proviso — by proposing that, in a state of ecological equilibrium, no one may use natural services without the consent of others (for example, through persuasion or bargaining), and all persons enjoy equal rights of acquisition (if not economic equality). At the same time, Walshe departs from left-libertarianism — such as

Hillel Steiner Hillel Isaac Steiner (; born 1942) is a Canadian political philosopher and is Emeritus Professor of Political Philosophy at the University of Manchester. He was elected to the Fellowship of the British Academy in 1999. Work Steiner's writings ar ...

's assertion that all persons are entitled to equal shares of natural resources — by asserting that population growth, whether through immigration or births, upsets ecological equilibrium and that (voluntary) immigrants, and the parents of children, are responsible for not impinging upon others' rights to acquire natural services. Walshe maintains that both limitations encourage innovations in which natural services are used as efficiently as possible.Walshe 2014, pp. 961, 969.

Notes

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Green Libertarianism Environmentalism Green politics Left-libertarianism Libertarianism by form