“Private governance can be found in other examples in the oil and gas industry. Just think of the whole communities that exist on offshore oil and gas platforms. Why? Again as explained by Edward Stringham, ‘in many cases government officials do not have the knowledge, incentive or ability to enforce contracts or property rights in a low cost way’.”
Can the private sector assume functions now assumed if not monopolized by government? Such as building what is normally considered public infrastucture?
The answer is yes, as documented by examples and in theory. Regarding the latter, Edward Stringham explains:
…Government is often dysfunctional and crowds out private sources of order, or it is simply absent or too costly to use. That means parties can either live with their problems or attempt to solve them.
“The United States fully intends to be the world’s preeminent leader in protecting the global environment. [E]nvironmental protection makes growth sustainable…. [This] recognition … by leaders from around the world is the central accomplishment of this important [United Nations] Rio Conference.”
– George H. W. Bush, “News Conference in Rio de Janeiro, June 13, 1992.
“Bush restored federal subsidies to the Carter-era renewable-energy and energy-efficiency programs that had been cut under Reagan. All-Things-to-All-People Bush also signed the Clean Air Act of 1990, which took the acid-rain scare at face value, a signal about his openness toward the global-warming issue to come.”
– Robert Bradley, Enron Ascending: The Forgotten Years (2018), p. 332.
In “This is when the GOP turned away from Climate Policy, E&E News recalled the good ol’ days when George H.…
“Kinder Morgan … has a natural incentive to capture methane emissions where economical. It is also in the CO2 business of increasing crude oil recovery. The good news is that there is not a hint of uneconomic action to reduce methane or CO2 emissions in its operations. Such “no regrets” avoids the keep-it-in-the-ground fanaticism of the anti-fossil-fuel lobby and buys time for the crusade of “climate stabilization” to die of its own weight.”
“Kinder Morgan’s “Statement on Climate Change” smartly places the climate-change issue in a global and economic context. But it gives unqualified deference to the notion that CO2 emissions as an inherent bad must be minimized rather than apply an economic standard of good business sense, or profitability.”
A few months ago, I evaluated a shareholder resolution presented to Kinder Morgan, Inc.…