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.#Wal10, Wall 2010. p. 12-13. ...
. Alternately, it is a form of
libertarianism
Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according t ...
in which the
free market
In economics, a free market is an economic market (economics), 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 ...
provides environmentally beneficial (or benign) outcomes. Marcel Wissenburg (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
John Locke (; 29 August 1632 (Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.) – 28 October 1704 (Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.)) was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as on ...
should account for ecological concerns. In the natural world, all organisms—including humans—acquire (make use of) natural services, which natural resources provide.. 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.. 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. Walshe departs from right-libertarianism—specifically,
Robert Nozick
Robert Nozick (; November 16, 1938 – January 23, 2002) was an American philosopher. He held the Joseph Pellegrino Harvard University Professor, University Professorship at Harvard University,Hillel Steiner'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..