from the desk of Daniel Bromley

"Factories claiming a right to pollute are, in fact, being merely presumptive about their assertion of a right. Farmers using pesticides that contaminate food and various terrestrial and aquatic habitats are very often being presumptive about their alleged "right" to do this. That is, in most settings there is no right at all but rather a presumptive right.

When I earlier discussed the use of the term "right" to suggest a legal status what was, in fact, merely based on tradition or some desired outcome, I was referring to the idea of presumptive rights. Such presumptive rights are, in fact, simply assumed; they are alleged, though they may be firmly believed by those who imagine that they have them. It is this confusion between presumptive rights and rights in fact (in law) that leads to much incoherence in environmental policy."

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