We The People 2.0 - The Film

Cathy Miorelli's Story: "I’d rather get sued than do nothing while my kids and my community were poisoned."

Rolling Stone Magazine

Check out CELDF & Grant Twp, PA, in "How a small town is standing up to fracking," by Justin Nobel of Rolling Stone Magazine. Help us support communities like Grant!

Rights of Nature

CELDF is pioneering the advancement of rights of ecosystems, 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

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October 27th

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Featured Articles

Blog: The US Constitution Is So 1789. It’s Time for a Serious Overhaul.

May 3, 2017

The 1% drive for a constitutional convention, advancing their own corporate interests. But we don't need a convention. We need a whole new constitution.

Press Release: Colombia Constitutional Court Finds Atrato River Possesses Rights

May 4, 2017

Reversing course from mainstream views of nature as property, Colombia's Constitutional Court finds the Atrato River is a rights-bearing entity - a necessary step to protect life on earth.

PR: First Right to Climate Law Passes in Colorado

April 5, 2017

Lafayette, CO, is the first community in the state to adopt a right to climate ordinance, recognizing the right of residents to a healthy climate.

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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Show Your Support. Take Action Now.

  • 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

  • Ohio Counties Fighting for Their Rights and Their Future

    Ohio residents in Medina, Portage, and Athens Counties are fighting to protect themselves from fracking wastewater injection wells, pipelines, compressor stations, and more. In response, the corporate state is placing people’s environmental and democratic rights in their cross-hairs.

    These communities aren’t blinking.

    Show Your Support