Abstract

Some environmental scholars and policymakers have been particularly critical of classical liberal conceptions of private property on both theoretical and practical grounds, suggesting that traditional notions of property rights are incompatible with the demands of environmental protection. Perceiving an environmental crisis borne from Lockean conceptions of property and capitalism, many environmental thinkers came to view the legal protection of private property as an obstacle to environmental sustainability. As a result, the development of command-and-control regulation in the 1960s and 1970s was influenced by the ecological critique of private property.

In recent years, however, the perception of private property's role in environmental conservation has begun to change. Disregard for the rights and interests of property owners has spurred a backlash of opposition to environmental regulation. No less significant, the incentives created by land-use restrictions have often worked against the goals of environmental conservation, prompting some environmental analysts to observe that working with landowners may, in some circumstances, be more effective than controlling them through regulation. More broadly, there is an increased recognition that property rights can be as important for environmental protection as they are for individual liberty and economic prosperity. While the transformation is not complete, a reconciliation between property rights and environmental protection seems to be in the making.

This essay traces the evolving perception of private property in modern environmental policy.

This abstract has been adapted from the author's introduction.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2005

Publication Information

1 New York University Journal of Law & Liberty 987-1022 (2005)

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