The libertarian experiment and the trends in the environmental issue in Argentina

Abstract

This work takes stock of the recent trajectory of the environmental issue in Argentina and explains how the government of Javier Milei has produced a qualitative leap in environmental policy there. I present a summary of the experience of environmental activism, detailing its specific contribution to the debate on the role of extractivism and the problems for democracy. I explore the different ways in which legislative activism has had consequences at the institutional level. I also present some of the reforms promoted by the government of Javier Milei to show their regressive nature in the environmental field. Finally, I address environmental denialism and its role in justifying a frontal attack on acquired environmental rights; this will allow me to reflect more generally on the anti-environmental rhetoric of the right wing in Latin America.