As a true believer in free market capitalism being the best way to allocate resources, I would like to provide you a very brief summary of some of the most serious negatives associated with Conservation Easement Tax Credits. Here is the third of the six worse negatives:

A Conservation Easement Does Not Reduce the Cost of Government:

In fact, taxes have to be increased because the money spent on Conservation Easement Tax Credits is money that is not spent on the other needs of our modern Virginia society – public roads, upgraded utility systems, schools, statewide fiber optic cable, etc.  So while the cost of government does not go down, the tax revenue does decrease and therefore, taxes increase. We saw that impact under both Governor Warner and Governor Kaine.