Tire Wars

Economists have debated "pollution havens" -- pollution moves from regulated to unregulated locations -- for many years. Although there is no clear consensus that they are common, this story gives a useful example of how regulations may go from good intentions to bad outcomes:

When rains pound Tijuana, thousands of tires fill the torrents of sewage and trash that stream north across the international border.

Most of the tires are from California, where residents pay more than $60 million a year for safe disposal and recycling. Still, countless numbers land in Mexico through legal and illicit channels.

[snip]

Through interviews and documents, the Union-Tribune identified many flaws in the system. They include:

• San Diego County's lack of a tire-recycling facility, even though tire disposal problems have been known for at least 20 years.
  
• A state tire-recycling fund that has grown to $42 million while potential solutions lack money.
  
• California's ban against spending tire-recycling money in Mexico, even when such funding ultimately would benefit the state by reducing tire piles that fuel large fires or become breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
  
• Ineffective rules targeting illegal tire exports from California and spotty enforcement of those rules that leave regulators fuzzy about how many tires are sent to Mexico.

My least-favorite reason is the provincial (and political) nearsightedness that does not allow "our" money to go to "them" -- even though "their" problems are "ours".

(The same problem exists in the Salton Sea restoration debate; our money would be much better spent restoring the Colorado River Delta in Mexico.)

Bottom Line: Regulations need to be flexible in the face of political and institutional barriers. We want RESULTS, not procedures!