R.J. Smith is a distinguished fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute for Energy and Environment. Mr. Smith also serves as director of the Center for Private Conservation (CPC), a former CEI project. The CPC documents, prepares case studies on, and publicizes noteworthy examples of private conservation and stewardship on private lands in the U.S. and abroad.
Combining a natural sciences background in geology from Stanford University with social sciences and economics from New York University, Mr. Smith began to apply market and property-rights solutions to environmental issues when he was president of an Audubon Society chapter in 1970. He coined the term “free-market environmentalism” in his book, “Earth’s Resources: Private Ownership vs. Public Waste.”
Mr. Smith was consultant to the Department of the Interior and the President’s Council on Environmental Quality, and he served as a special assistant at the EPA. He was a consultant to the Edison Electric Institute and director of environmental studies at the Cato Institute. Currently he works on wildlife, endangered species, property rights, and property stewardship.
Mr. Smith is a popular speaker and has lectured and debated widely, including in Japan, Australia, New Zealand, France, Portugal, Belgium, England, Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
Authored by Robert J. Smith
News
CEI Opposes Haaland Confirmation Based on House Record Hostile to Property Rights and Resource Development on Federal Lands
WASHINGTON, DC – President Biden’s nominee to be Secretary of the Interior Representative Deb Haaland (D-NM) answered questions before a Senate committee ahead of a…
CEI Praises EPA Decision to Repeal Disastrous Waters of the U.S. Rule
This week the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) moved to repeal the Obama administration’s Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule. This rule expanded federal oversight…
“Radical Environmentalists and Liberals Continue to Fiddle as America’s Forests Burn,” Claims Environmental Scholar
Contact for Interviews: <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” />Jody Clarke, 202.331.2252<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” />…
Blog
A Billion Here, a Billion There …
- By: Robert J. Smith
Amidst all these temporary war powers, rules, regulations, commands, restrictions, bailouts, and stimulus packages, it is wise to remember the words of Milton Friedman: “Nothing…
Supreme Court Ruling Puts Important Limits on Federal Authority under Endangered Species Act
- By: Robert J. Smith
On November 27, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously, in Weyerhaeuser v. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, that there are limits to how far the federal…
President Trump Should Defend Federal Land Use and End Abuse of Antiquities Act
Misuse of the Antiquities Act by radical environmental pressure groups and compliant presidents circumvents the constitutional authority of Congress…
Op-Eds/Articles
Moisturizing the EPA
- By: Robert J. Smith
Property rights advocates had reason to be optimistic this week, as the Supreme Court heard arguments in Sackett v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. At stake…
Ecoterrorism Kills
- By: Robert J. Smith
With reports that some of the fires in California may have been started by arsonists, some people have speculated that all the fires were…
Spaceship Earth: An Astronaut is up above the Clouds
Astronaut Eileen Collins is concerned about the environmental degradation she sees from space. On board the fragile spaceship Discovery, she lamented from her unique…
Studies
Protect Endangered Species
Liberate to Stimulate Index The Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973 is bad for wildlife, because it is bad for people. It…
Cypress Bay Plantation, Cummings, South Carolina
Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Association
- By: Robert J. Smith
Full Document Available in PDF The creation of the Hawk Mountain Sanctuary in the Appalachian…
Citations
Stateline
Logging, Money Battles Delay Wildfire Prevention Work
- By: Robert J. Smith
Pew Trusts cited Distinguished Fellow RJ Smith on U.S. Forest Service funding: Some conservative experts disagree that funding is a major problem for federal…
Deseret News
Critics continue push for monument changes
- By: Robert J. Smith
Deseret News cited Robert J. Smith on the need to repeal “The antiquated Antiquities Act” on grounds the act cannot be reformed owing to its age…
Fox News
Federal Land Management to Blame for Out-of-Control Fires, Say Critics
- By: Robert J. Smith
R. J. Smith discusses the problems of forest fires on public land with Fox News: With 190 million acres of land under…