The wicked problem of air pollution – the AE position

Thanks to everyone who responded to my post yesterday. Thanks to some ideas passed along by AE redditors, I was able to find the AE position on air pollution.

Courtesy of Murray Rothbard in chaprer 13 of “For a New Liberty”.

The remedy is simply for the courts to return to their function of defending person and property rights against invasion, and therefore to enjoin anyone from injecting pollutants into the air.

https://mises.org/online-book/new-liberty-libertarian-manifesto/chapter-13-conservation-ecology-and-growth/pollution

Given the subjective theory of value, the person who decides what a pollutant is would be the person who owns the land or body affected by the pollution. No need to prove harm. Just need to show that the polluter is aggressing on others person and/or property.

So in terms of the case study – leaded gasoline – American citizens (either as individuals or class actions) ought to be able to simply get a court injunction to immediately stop anyone polluting the atmosphere with lead.