ABSTRACT
The state of the environment is a novel issue on the political agenda. It may be argued that at first appearance liberalism and environmental philosophy do not tie in with each other because liberalism's most fundamental feature, the contract, leaves out those who cannot join it. Many arguments have been put forward against the economic behavior approach with respect to the environment. But following psychological research that Amos Twersky and Danny Kahaneman conducted in the US and Maya Bar-Hillel in Israel, the author conducted a simple experiment that reveals the fallacy of the concept of willingness to pay (WTP). Ecology implies state intervention, justified by a consideration of the common good and hence abandoning neutrality as a justification for the liberal state and its policies. Those who can continue manufacturing and limit the resulting pollution will do so, and cover the cost of doing so by selling pollution rights to other firms.
