Both property and tort theories of environmental authority have unavoidable limits

Evidence

Most simply put, each theory of sovereign authority underlying environmental law—whether property or tort—has its limits. There are constitutional and political limits on the extent to which government can impose ever more stringent restrictions on the exercise of private property rights that threaten environmental values. At some point, the only effective and fair recourse is a formal purchase by the government of a property right in the natural resource of concern. There are similarly limits on the extent to which government can afford to, or should be required to, pay for every decrease in economic value occasioned by its restrictions on private rights. Private property rights in land and other resources cannot fairly be understood to confer on the owner an inviolable right to alter their physical state. — Richard J. Lazarus, The Making of Environmental Law, 787

Categorization

• XREF: The closing line that private property cannot confer an inviolable right to alter physical state resonates with the earlier snapshot of ecological reasoning denying landowners absolute rights. — connects to: Property law’s boundary-invasion frame cannot address external pollution threats to federal lands — Richard J. Lazarus, The Making of Environmental Law, 792