TT's Lost in Tokyo

CEI funds, staffs and supports the relatively young, growing and interesting "Bureaucrash" grassroots libertarian social action site, by which CEI tries to tap into some of the discontent with government that has bloomed over the Bush presidency.  I`ve opened an account there and cross-posted some of my blog posts.

I received the attached by email from Bureaucrash:

A message to all members of Bureaucrash Social

Crashers,

Be sure to visit http://cei.org/1984 to see how politicians and bureaucrats are trying to turn 2009 into 1984 by taking control of the entire economy via energy policies.  CEI has produced a video showing that Al Gore and those like him are really just Big Brother in green clothes.

You can write your Congressman today and make your voice heard by clicking on the "Write Your Congressman" link on the page.

In liberty,

Cord Blomquist

Visit Bureaucrash Social at: http://social.bureaucrash.com

I responded directly at the Bureaucrassh post (which may be accessible only to those who have registered); I copy my response below

Cord, I think CEI has been playing a counter-productive role for quite some time, and is still doing so.

Rather than taking the lead in (1) finding property-rights based or related approaches to blindingly obvious commons problems - caused either by open-access without property or by government regulation and favoritism/kleptocracy - in important local, regional and global resources (tropical deforestation (theft of native title), the atmosphere (AGW and pollution in US, China & India) and oceans (crashing fisheries, dead zones & rising pH), or (2) calling for deregulation to enhance competition, consumer choice and efficiency in the "public utility" sector, CEI has played a denialist, delayist and ad hom game, all in ways quite contrary to libertarian principles - principles that seek ways to resolve problems by enhancing the ability of people to express their preferences through market transactions.

This is puzzling, since there are many topics on which libertarians can productively engage with enviros, who are starting to see the merit of property rights approaches to fisheries, and whose frustration on power issues is readily understandable, as Lew Rockwell has noted: The Real Cause of Blackouts

Given CEI`s unproductive and in-your-face approach to environmentalists, despite all of obvious problems and unexplored ground, one is tempted to wonder whether CEI`s purpose is not to achieve any positive action, but - by talking about how environmentalists are always wrong and by talking a great game about market principles while steadily ignoring the way that government has long been used to benefit particular special interests -simply to defend the status quo, which obviously is NOT based on pure free markets, but massive governmental intervention that benefits particular firms and investors.