Adhering to their conservative philosophy of tackling environmental issues through a free enterprise system rather than government regulation, four students from Collegians For A Constructive Tomorrow picked up over 1,500 cigarette butts along a 1.25 mile stretch of University Avenue west of campus Tuesday.
Admonishing strict environmental regulation as ineffective and counter-productive, CFACT member and UW-Madison senior Peter McCabe cited Tuesday's efforts as an example of the impact personal responsibility has on the environment.
\If you were in your backyard you would not be flipping cigarette butts day in and day out,"" McCabe said.
Often criticized as being pro-business and environmentally misguided, CFACT, a national non-profit organization, takes a unique, if not controversial, view of environmental issues.
""We take an approach to the environment that is completely different than what environmentalists have been telling us since the 1960s,"" said Nick Pongratz, president of the Madison chapter of CFACT and UW-Madison senior. ""We're going against the status quo and believe less regulation is better.""
Craig Rucker, co-founder of CFACT and board member of CFACT's parent organization, the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow, spoke to CFACT members after the clean up effort and cited environmental degradation in the former Soviet Union as an example of what too much government regulation can do. Rucker advocated a return to Teddy Roosevelt environmentalism where the environment is sustained in a ""free market sustainable way, not a green sustainable way.""
CFACT's constructive environmental philosophy differs greatly from traditional environmental groups like Greenpeace and Wisconsin Public Research Interest Group by emphasizing the compatibility between free market capitalism and environmentalism.
Pongratz said groups like Greenpeace are too influential at the national level and disregard sound scientific evidence when addressing environmental issues.
""Groups like Greenpeace get too much credibility when public policy is being developed,"" Pongratz said. ""What they spout off is usually diametrically opposed to what real science says.""
Lindsey Ourada, a UW-Madison sophomore has experience with both CFACT and WisPRIG and said CFACT is often times misunderstood.
""I think there are a lot of misconceptions about CFACT but people can't explain what they disagree with,"" Ourada said.
Ourada said she disagreed with many of Rucker's ideas regarding environmental policy but appreciates a different point of view and looks forward to fostering a working relationship between CFACT and WisPRIG.
