Over the last two hundred years, property rights in countries with legal systems going back to English common law have been eroded, and hand in hand with that erosion has gone increasing environmental degradation - as industry in particular has been permitted to pollute with the collusion of governments. This book draws on cases from England, Canada, and the US, showing how the law of property - including trespass, nuisance and riparian law - has been a force for environmental protection, whereas contemporary statutes and regulations have allowed private land and public resources to be fouled.