Question

Think about a natural resource that everyone in your community uses, such as the air in Earth's atmosphere or drinking water. What types of property rights can be applied to it, and who holds those rights? What type of property rights regime do you think would apply (or do more than one regime apply) to this resource in the United States? Explain your answer.

Answer 1

Everyone has a right to breathe air, and no authority can limit your right to breathe air, so I think open access would apply to breathing air. Also, our use of air for our crops and animals is unrestricted. We can use air in the atmosphere for burning fuel, but we are limited regarding how we can use it to accept our exhaust. State and federal governments, which have management and transfer rights, regulate exhaust emissions from vehicles, factories, and power plants, but no one has alienation or ownership rights. It is not possible to sell the atmosphere. Regarding air as a resource for accepting exhaust emissions, I think it could be regarded as public property because the government regulates some aspects of its use.

Step-by-step explanation:

(Answers may vary.) Plato/ Edmentum

Answer 2

Step-by-step explanation:

The rights of the resource depends on the resource in question. For example, an abundant resource such as Air would be considered a birthright, and no one can actually hold the rights to it, also since it cannot be taken. On the other hand, limited resources such as water would fall under the rights of the landowner. Therefore, any and all land property rights in the country would apply to the body of water, limited to the boundaries of the land. Meaning that if a stream or body of water passes the individual's land it is also within the rights of the owner of the other piece of land in which the water passes through.