Although there is in the United States a clear national consensus supporting the protection of the environment, advocates often profoundly disagree about the policies best designed to achieve this end. The traditional answer has been that government must intervene, through legislation and regulation of behavior, to preserve environmental values. This book takes a different approach, examining the prospects (and pitfalls) for improving natural resource allocation and environmental quality through market processes. The authors demonstrate that governmental policies often exacerbate environmental problems because of inadequate incentives and information.