[DOWNLOAD] "Property Rights and Environmental Regulation: The Case for Compensation." by Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy ~ Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Property Rights and Environmental Regulation: The Case for Compensation.
- Author : Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy
- Release Date : January 22, 2004
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 262 KB
Description
The right to acquire, use, and alienate property has long been regarded as a fundamental value in Anglo-American constitutional thought. (1) Historically, respect for private property was seen as providing the basis for individual autonomy and the enjoyment of liberty. (2) Reflecting this link between liberty and property, both the federal and state constitutions contain guarantees of private ownership. (3) Still, as with other individual rights, the rights of property owners have never been absolute. The common law of nuisance imposes restrictions on landowner activity that adversely impacts a neighbor's enjoyment of his or her land. (4) Moreover, zoning has limited land use for decades, ostensibly to safeguard public health and safety. (5) In the late twentieth century, the emergence of the modern environmental movement, accompanied by often apocalyptic rhetoric, resulted in the enactment of a series of laws stringently controlling land use. Such legislation has made substantial inroads upon the traditional rights of owners. Property rights advocates have increasingly challenged the environmental agenda in both the judicial and legislative arena. Today, environmentalists and landowners appear trapped in a destructive cycle of mutual antagonism. Environmentalists harbor deep suspicions of market forces, and they commonly posit that recognition of the traditional dominion rights of property owners is antithetical to environmental protection. They frequently assert that unfettered private rights in land lead to widespread degradation and that individual property rights are an obstacle to regulations that effectuate the public interest.