Tournament: Woodward | Round: 1 | Opponent: NA | Judge: NA

Environmental protection means government rules or regulations intended to benefit the environment. Arruda 13

~Arruda, Joe, Dr (Pitt State University). "Careers with an Environmental Spin." Careers with an Environmental Spin. Pitt State. Web. 19 Dec. 2013 http://faculty.pittstate.edu/~~jarruda/env_career.htm~~**
The two traditional areas of environmental jobs are environmental protection and resource conservation. Environmental protection refers to the administrative regulation and control of solid and hazardous waste, toxic substances, air pollution, and water pollution. Resource conservation, on the other hand, usually refers to the management of soils, lands, forests, fish, and wildlife.

And, Black’s Law Dictionary agrees~"What is ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION?" The Law Dictionary Featuring Black’s Law Dictionary Free Online Legal Dictionary 2nd Ed.~ AT
What is ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION? ~is~ Environmental guardianship based on policies and procedures. Objectives are (1) the conserving of natural resources, (2) the preserving of the existing natural environment and, (3) where possible, repairing damage and reversing trends.

This interpretation is best as it conforms to both the expert and commonly used understanding of environmental protection. Viewing environmental protection as a policy action best fits the text of the topic because it asks what countries should do.

Therefore the affirmative burden is to prove that government regulation of the environment should limit the extraction of resources in developing countries.

I value justice because the topic questions the proper prioritization of rights and responsibilities by governments.

The criterion is the promotion and protection of private property rights.

Property rights are a prerequisite to all other rights, and ethical theories. Eagle 13

Steven J. Eagle, Prof of law at George Mason University in the George Mason Law Review ~"A PROSPECTIVE LOOK AT PROPERTY RIGHTS AND ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION" George Mason Law Review
20 Geo. Mason L. Rev. 725 Spring, 2013.~
A strong system of private property rights promotes economic wellbeing, and also protects individual
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forward has always included the rights of use and disposition as well."145

Thus, the right to property includes the right to use that property as you see fit.

Freedom is the most fundamental right because it is necessary to access and enjoy all others, and property rights provide protection from interference and coercion, so the negative criterion is a perquisite to all other criteria.

My Thesis and sole contention is that in a system of property rights owners ought to be able to extract resources free from interference.

Sub-Point A: Environmental protection necessarily entails a restriction of property rights.

Environmental regulation limits the ability of owners to use their land and resources as they see fit. Indeed, it is inherently at odds with the notion of property rights. Adler 05

JONATHAN ADLER Prof. of environmental law at Case Western, writes for the Case research series: ~"Back to the Future of Conservation: Changing Perceptions of Property Rights 26 Environmental Protection" Case Research Paper Series in Legal Studies Working Paper 05-16, July 2005~
The modern environmental movement was born in the late 1960s, a time when many
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"the need for a reconsideration of the notion of property rights."22

Negating restores property rights by removing government control, and giving private individuals the right to extract resources.

As a result of environmental protection, resources are owned by the state and then rented to regulated extractors. Contrary to what the aff has said, right now, environmental protection is the norm nearly everywhere, crowding out private ownership of resources, and it has failed. Clausen et al. 11

Clausen et al. in The Journal of Politics and Law ~Fabian Clausen, LL.M University of Ottawa, Maria Laura Barreto, PhD Director Materials Efficiency Research Group, Professor Amir Attaran, D. Phil. LL.B. Canada Research Chair in Law, Population Health and Global Development Policy Faculties of Law and Medicine; University of Ottawa "Property Rights Theory and the Reform of Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining in Developing Countries" Journal of Politics and Law. Vol. 4, No. 1; March 2011~
What should this mean for ASM? As mentioned, virtually all developing countries have
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and other interest whose importance cannot be adequately measured ¶ in monetary terms. 

Sub-point B: Property rights over resources are preferable to environmental regulation.

Economic regulation harms the environment because it allows companies to seek favors and special treatment from the government, this is known as rent-seeking. Adler 2

ADLER 2 Prof. of environmental law at Case Western, writes in the Harvard
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. J. L. 26 Pub. Pol’y 653 2000-2001~
If public sector management places environmental resources¶ at the mercy of public sector employees
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regulation proliferate, so will the opportunities and incentives for rent-seeking.

When environmental protection is prioritized, the incentives of industries are to manipulate regulations and extract as much as possible, if they don’t, another firm will. Allowing industries to extract as they see fit, by granting them property rights over resources, solves this problem. Adler 3

ADLER 3 ~Johan Verheij Memorial Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Business Law 26 Regulation at the Case Western Reserve University School of Law, where he teaches courses in environmental, administrative, and constitutional law. Law Clerk, Hon. David B. Sentelle, United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. "FREE 26 GREEN: A NEW APPROACH TO ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION" Harv. J. L. 26 Pub. Pol’y 653 2000-2001~
The problem with the dominant approach to environmental policy is its reliance upon centralized political
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avoid regulatory proscriptions that could force them to lose their investments altogether.’

Adler 3 continues, providing an empirical example:

International studies of¶ economic and environmental trends demonstrate that "environmental quality and economic
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property rights in New Zealand and elsewhere maintain sustainable catches. 10 3¶ 

Thus, environmental protection should not be prioritized because government regulation simply makes the problem worse. Enforcing property rights, including the right to extract, is the only way to incentivize sustainable development.