The tragedy of the local commons

One of the most influential pieces of literature in the fields of environment and political science is the Tragedy of the Commons by Garret Hardin. This writing describes Hardin's take on solving problems related to the overuse and excessive pollution of common goods such as land, air and water. I recently read a piece in my local newspaper, the Chaska Herald, about the local mayors providing updates on their respective cities to the Southwest Metro Chamber of Commerce. The four mayors from Chanhassen, Chaska, Victoria and Carver highlighted projects and successes their cities undertook in the past year and discussed the challenges ahead in the next year. Of these four cities, Victoria is the only city that is a part of the GreenStep cities program. I wandered if the other three mayors were aware of the program and if they had ever read or heard of the Tragedy of the Commons. After reading the four pieces from each mayor, almost all of them highlighted recent successes in new buildings, mostly restaurants, and community growth. Growth is one area that cities need to address related to the Tragedy of the Commons and climate change. While growth can be done, it must be done in an appropriate way. Climate, energy, or the environment were not mentioned in these mayors updates and it is something that should be a priority as they experience and plan for growth. Victoria is the only city that addressed housing as a priority; creating smaller housing unites to attract new homebuyers, smaller homes, and those looking to downsize, rather than large half-a-million dollar homes. Climate change and environmental protection can be addressed locally, but only if mayors and city officials incorporate it into their agendas. It does not even have to be a priority, but should be an area of concern that they address.