Lake Erie Bill of Rights

In an historic vote, Toledo, Ohio, residents recognize the Rights of Lake Erie to exist, flourish, and evolve, with 61% of community members supporting the measure.

Ohio State Government Blocks Rights of Nature

Ohio House of Representatives adopts provisions to block communities and local governments from enforcing recognized legal rights for ecosystems.

Rights of Nature

CELDF is spearheading the Rights of Nature movement, working globally to develop rights-based legal frameworks to protect the environment.

We help communities and groups like yours.

We are not a typical environmental organization. We assist communities to develop first-in-the-nation, groundbreaking laws to protect rights – including worker, environmental, and democratic rights, and rights of nature. CELDF provides free and low cost legal services, grassroots organizing, and education, to communities, states, and countries facing injustice. We help them to assert their rights to fight the harms they face. Learn more about how we work, or call us now at: 717-498-0054.

News from the Grassroots

News
June 12th

Marion County, Oregon

Who Controls

Our Future?

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  • Rights to Clean Air!

    June 11, 2019

    Check out this public presentation on Community Rights in Dallas, Oregon, led by CELDF's community organizer Kai Huschke.

  • Winning the Lake Erie Bill of Rights

    June 13, 2019

    Join CELDF community organizer Tish O'Dell and Toledoans for Safe Water Markie Miller for this webinar on what's ahead for the Lake Erie Bill of Rights.

  • “The Wise Guys for Profit City” at Comfest

    June 29, 2019

    Columbus, Ohio's, Comfest hosts a street skit and presentation with Q&A from the Ohio Community Rights Network and CELDF's community organizer Tish O'Dell. Learn more!

Featured Articles

The Guardian: Our laws make slaves of nature. It’s not just humans who need rights

May 23, 2018

As the recognition of Rights of Nature grows globally, we must move beyond thinking of nature as having legal personhood rights. We must recognize rights of ecosystems to existence, regeneration and restoration.

Blog: Dangerous to the 1% – An Informed Public

May 16, 2018

An uninformed, passive public is easy to for the 1% to lead. We must become knowledgeable - not just about what is happening, but how and why. We must take on difficult questions and challenge the status quo if we are going to create a new way of life.

Blog: Black History Month, White Supremacy, and Community Rights

February 25, 2018

CELDF's Tish O'Dell shares discoveries of her own white privilege when fracking came into her community - and how Dr. Martin Luther King and Black Lives Matter inform her work with communities today

CELDF Celebrates 20 Years!

The Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund turns 20 years old! What began as a mission to help communities fight permits has evolved into a Community Rights Movement for people and nature.

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Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation Funds CELDF's Work to Advance Rights to Local, Democratic Self-Governance and Rights of Nature

CELDF receives support from the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation.

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Is it Really ILLEGAL to Think Outside the Box?

What is it that keeps us from getting what we want in our communities? Why can’t we say, “No!” to harmful activities? The short answer is: THE LAW. A handful of legal doctrines make it illegal for communities to govern on important issues like fracking, factory farms, large-scale energy infrastructure projects and commercial water extraction.

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A Problem: Corporations have been granted rights allowing them to wreak havoc in communities for over 200 years.
We can stop this. Here's how...

Immerse yourself in the fundamentals of our current legal system.

Learn how to better understand the issues of our time.

Discover the keys to affect lasting change.

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  • Water Protectors in Nottingham, NH

    Nottingham, NH, residents have stood their ground to protect the Lamprey River Watershed, a water ecosystem supporting innumerable human and natural communities. They are up against water thieves – corporations taking their water against the will of the people.

    For over a decade they have enforced their Community Bill of Rights banning corporate water withdrawals. CELDF stands with them.

    Show Your Support

  • Lincoln Co, OR, Residents & the Siletz River Challenge the Timber Industry

    For decades, Lincoln County, OR, residents and surrounding ecosystems have been subjected to toxic aerially spraying of pesticides by the timber industry.

    Today, they’ve had enough. Working with CELDF, they are asserting the rights of the Siletz River, their own rights to clean air and pure water, and – together – they are challenging the timber industry.

    Show Your Support

  • Grant Township, PA: A Stand to Protect Their Water & Their Community

    For more than 3 years, Grant Township, PA, residents have been fighting PGE’s proposed frack wastewater injection well. Now their own Department of Environmental Protection has turned on them as well. Grant residents are unwavering in their commitment to protect their community.

    CELDF is standing with them.

    Show Your Support