13 Quotes by Peyton Knight

One man's blight is another man's castle. Without proper restrictions and well-defined parameters, governments will exploit the blight loophole and continue to abuse eminent domain power.

If the government takes a person's land to build a highway, the property owner is compensated. If the government takes the use of a person's land to protect a rare species, however, the property owner is not compensated. This inequity must be addressed.

Landowners who earn credits would have a vested interest in increasing the value of their credits. The value can be increased by either more stringent regulation or reduced species populations that require a reduction in the number of credits available.

While the Endangered Species Act has failed miserably at saving rare plants and animals, it has excelled in making life miserable for many in the human population.

Typically, 'good-faith negotiations' do not portray the buyer holding a gun to the seller's head. These negotiations have been tinged with bad-faith since April, when the City told property owners they had to be out of their homes by New Year's Eve. Mr. Green can pretend he's dealing in good faith, but he's really playing with a corked bat.

There is no joy in Greenville this morning. But the ball game is far from over, as environmental ideologues have vowed to fight tooth-and-nail to destroy any meaningful ESA reform in the Senate.

ESA-related costs are paid in an inequitable way. Although Congress determined in 1973 that the preservation of endangered species was in the interest of the U.S. as a whole, Congress did not arrange for the nation as a whole to bear the costs of recovery. Instead, these costs are largely borne by the private landowners on whose property rare species are found, regardless of the ability of any particular landowner to bear these costs.

Property owners should not be punished for being good environmental stewards, yet that is exactly what the ESA does.

Draconian regulations on property owners don't attract business. Businesses want the right to do what they want with their properties.