From economic theories to pollution permits

Abstract

Permits to pollute have occupied too large a place in negotiations. Their originality has made it possible, sometimes without limit, to mobilise new theories maladapted to the problem, as their goal was elsewhere; the complexity of implementation they presuppose has mobilised much energy, the long-term consequences are unpredictable, focusing solely on the economic aspect of the problems, and they obscure the heart of the questions, which is perhaps to invent an ethic constrained by economics rather than satisfying oneself with an economy under a vague ethical constraint.