Table — Political Interests in Environmental Debates (source: Schneider 2003, "Mediarology", this website).

• Entrepreneurial rights transcend commons protection
• “One dollar one vote” — cost/benefit efficiency is the best decision rule
• The present is more valuable than the future (high discount rate appropriate)
• The present generation has an obligation not to borrow from the future (low discount rate appropriate for social rate of time preference)
• Commons protection justifies curbs on individual, corporate or national actions
• A risk aversion/precautionary principle is needed — especially for large-scale, potentially irreversible changes
• Other species have intrinsic existence rights, even if outside of traditional cost/benefit calculations for human welfare
• Distribution of costs and benefits are as or more important than the aggregate values (i.e., equity counts as much as efficiency)