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Takings & givings: Toward common ground on property rights

Edward Thompson
Journal of Soil and Water Conservation September 1992, 47 (5) 376-377;
Edward Thompson Jr.
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Excerpt

The emergence of a property rights movement in the United States is causing a re-examination between the use of property and protection of the environment, between land as a commodity and as a natural resource.

Advocates for expanded private property rights are increasingly organized and vocal in seeking to curtail governmental regulation of land use, much of it aimed at protecting the environment. Their concern is for competitiveness, individual freedom, and fairness. But they are inclined to dismiss evidence of environmental degradation and the finiteness of resources. They also tend to ignore the benefits landowners derive from regulation and the public subsidies that expand their opportunities to make money from the land.

On the other hand, environmentalists and many government officials are concerned about the expansion of property rights because it could make regulation prohibitively expensive. They argue that regulation is needed to compensate for the tendency of market systems to disregard environmental protection. They also point out that our tradition of private property has never conferred on landowners the right to injure neighbors or society as a whole.

Environmentalists often overlook the fact that most property owners do a reasonably good job of protecting natural resources, thus providing a benefit …

Footnotes

  • Edward Thompson Jr. is Director of Public Policy with American Farmland Trust

  • Copyright 1992 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society

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Journal of Soil and Water Conservation: 47 (5)
Journal of Soil and Water Conservation
Vol. 47, Issue 5
September/October 1992
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Takings & givings: Toward common ground on property rights
Edward Thompson
Journal of Soil and Water Conservation Sep 1992, 47 (5) 376-377;

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Takings & givings: Toward common ground on property rights
Edward Thompson
Journal of Soil and Water Conservation Sep 1992, 47 (5) 376-377;
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