Property rights: A Factor Increasingly Underlying EU/US Environmental Policy Differences

The defense of property rights and related concerns about Agenda 21 of the Rio Declaration are gaining traction as part of US right wing opposition to green initiatives and to environmental concepts such as sustainability. ... [ view full abstract ]

The defense of property rights and related concerns about Agenda 21 of the Rio Declaration are gaining traction as part of US right wing opposition to green initiatives and to environmental concepts such as sustainability. The routine presence of a private property plank in quadrennial Republican Party platforms has transitioned from advocacy of private property ownership as a means for achieving environmental goals, to a more defensive tone in which private property rights need protection against unwarranted environmentalism. Concern about Agenda 21, which began on the extreme right as a perceived plot by the UN to move everyone into cities, was stated for the first time, although less stridently, in the most recent Republican party platform. Review of their web sites finds that 10/11 US organizations specifically identified as being opposed to Agenda 21 by the Southern Poverty Law Center cite defense of property rights. Analysis of Republican party candidates for nomination in fall, 2015 finds that 6/15 specifically cite concerns about property rights, a concern that was not expressed by any of the five Democratic candidates, nor in any Democratic party platforms. Advocates often cite the primary role of property rights in the thinking of early US leaders and the formation of the US constitution. Somewhat in contrast, the European Commission on Human Rights, after much controversy, did not include property rights in the articles of the European Convention on Human Rights, although it is the first of the rights that were added and has since been ratified by nearly all EU countries. No such property rights language in party platforms or in the writings of their party leaders is found among the eight parties in the right wing EU Parliament’s Europe of Nations and Freedom group. The historical basis for this difference is explored. Concern about Agenda 21 and property rights has been successful in blocking local environmental regulations, and Alabama unanimously passed a law against using Agenda 21 as a basis for decisions. The current power of the right wing of the Republican party, including its strength in the US Congress, suggests that this growing concern about property rights, and the relative importance of property rights in US history, can impact on how the US meets current environmental challenges. As no evidence of similar concerns in the EU is found, property rights should not be overlooked when analyzing EU/US differences in environmental policies.