Pollution
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The LP Platform Currently Reads
The Issue: Toxic waste disposal problems
have been created by government policies that separate liability from property.
Present legal principles, particularly the unjust and false concept of "public
property," block privatization of the use of the environment and hence block
resolution of controversies over resource use. We condemn the EPA's Superfund
whose taxing powers are used to penalize all chemical firms, regardless of
their conduct. Such clean-ups are a subsidy of irresponsible companies at
the expense of responsible ones.
The Principle: Pollution of other people's
property is a violation of individual rights. Strict liability, not government
agencies and arbitrary government standards, should regulate pollution. Claiming
that one has abandoned a piece of property does not absolve one of the responsibility
for actions one has set in motion.
Solutions: We support the development of
an objective legal system defining property rights to air and water. Rather
than making taxpayers pay for toxic waste clean-ups, individual property
owners, or in the case of corporations, the responsible managers and employees
should be held strictly liable for material damage done by their property.
Transitional Action: We call for a modification
of the laws governing such torts as trespass and nuisance to cover damages
done by air, water, radiation, and noise pollution. We oppose legislative
proposals to exempt persons who claim damage from radiation from having to
prove such damage was in fact caused by radiation. We demand the abolition
of the Environmental Protection Agency. We also oppose government-mandated
smoking and non-smoking areas in privately owned businesses.
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