>>I'm a fiscal conservative and believe in small limited government...I'm an environmentalist and think offshore drilling should be permanently banned. The environment should be protected - even at the cost of the economy if necessary.
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>PMFJI: How do you shore up these two mutually exclusive beliefs?

Because I don't believe they are mutually exclusive. Just because a particular agency of the government contains thousands or even tens of thousands of staff, doesn't mean the entire government is, in turn, large. The government, as an agency of the people, should preserve the environment, preserve clean water, preserve clean oceans, and keep the land unpoisoned.

>Modern environmentalism requires the removal of individual property rights and the imposition of overbearing regulation.

I don't believe this statement to be completely accurate. Environmentalism doesn't remove individual property rights unless you consider the right to pollute to be in the Bill of Rights. Environmentalism certainly affects the ability of an individual to dump chemicals on their private property with impunity. Here's the deal: When the actions of one can affect the health of the many, then the government needs to protect the many from the one. I shouldn't be allowed to dump chemicals on my private property; the chemicals end up in the aquifer and in turn poisons the many. This is why public smoking has been banned in most states; because secondhand smoke negatively affects the health of the many. That is why people are still free to smoke at home or outdoors, because smoking in those locations only affects themselves.

>That regulation must be provided by a large government of regulators, inspectors, managers, enforcement officers over multiple agencies with wide ranging juristiction.

It certainly isn't an ideal scenario. In an ideal world nobody would pollute and there would be no need for this government intervention. Unfortunately we live in a world where many people and corporations don't give a damn about the consequences of their actions on others. Personally, I don't dump used motor oil in my backyard. I take it down to the auto parts store for recycling. If my neighbor dumps used motor oil in his backyard he should get a hefty fine from the EPA because his actions directly affect the health of others.

Corporations have an established track record of poisoning for profit. http://www.epa.gov/superfund/index.htm We MUST protect our environment, even at the cost of regulations and profit.