Environment vs. Economy Options

[*Kathleen*]

All right, so since I want to see a different topic out there...this one's from February's Lincoln-Douglas topic:

Resolved: A government's obligation to protect the environment ought to take precedence over its obligation to promote economic development.

I'm on the negative side for this, seeing that only by providing a healthy, stable economy can you be able to help the environment. The products of a good economy are what help improve the environment.

Haha don't worry...I have more points...I've researched both sides to this, so bring it on.

[ComradeRed]

Alright, i'll give you that.. now why is it important that it be a public good?

Because a public good (commons) should be managed publically, that is, by the government, to prevent the Tragedy of the Commons from happening (this is very well documented, search for "Tragedy of the Commons" and you can read on it -- quite interesting actually).

However, a private good does not run into the problem of the TotC, and thus is more efficiently managed by its owners, i.e. by private individuals, not the government.

Public goods should be managed by government, private goods by private groups.