Reclaiming the Moral High Ground

In conclusion, by drawing together and summarizing these several points, adding a few refinements in the process.

First, the demise of property rights has gone hand in hand with the rise of the modern redistribute, regulatory state, and a state that has grown well beyond its constitutional limits. The courts should be the ultimate institutional bulwark against that growth in government, but they can withstand only so much political pressure. In the end, therefore, it is WE THE PEOPLE who must right the wrongs that have been brought about through our endless demands for public goods and services. It has been stated that a government big enough to give us everything we want is a government strong enough to take away everything we have.

Second, to restore the protection for property rights that the Fifth Amendment affords, we need to be clear about the principles of the matter. We need to be clear, in particular, about how the protection of property and the protection of the environment go hand in hand. Indeed, as a practical matter, it is particularly important that defenders of property rights be seen as protectors of the environment as well. That is what we are. Let us say it. Third, it is crucial to distinguish between environmental harms, defined as violations of property rights, and environmental goods. The state does not have to compensate property owners when it prohibits them from using their property in ways that violate the rights of others. However, when regulations are aimed at providing public goods, and they do so by prohibiting property owners from doing what they would otherwise have a right to do with their property, thereby reducing the value of that property, the state does have to compensate those owners.

Fourth, and finally, not every regulation affecting property should lead to compensation for the owner. The owner should not be compensated (a) when he has no independent right to do what the regulation prohibits him from doing, as just noted; (b) when the regulation has the effect of reducing property values without denying any uses - say, if a government agency downsizes, leading to a reduction in property values in a community; and (c) if the owner can show no loss, say, if a particular zoning restriction actually raises property values.

With those principles in view, Forever Albemarle needs to go forward from here and press our cause in every arena we can.  The principles at issue are nothing less than the principles on which this nation was founded: individual liberty, individual responsibility, private property, and public accountability. As stated at the outset, those who defend property rights when properly understood, are those who defend the environment as well. We occupy the moral high ground. Let us hold to that, look up, and go boldly forward!