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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The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus anti-fracking initiative makes fall ballot, might not hold up legally
Residents in Columbus, OH, successfully qualify a Community Bill of Rights initiative for the November ballot. The measure bans fracking extraction and waste from within city limits as a violation of democratic and environmental rights.
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The Daily News: Residents rally to halt pig farm
Todd Township, PA, supervisors fulfill on their commitment to protect the health, safety, and welfare of township community members, voting to adopt a Community Bill of Rights prohibiting industrial farming.
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Press Release: Pennsylvania Township Bans Corporate Industrial Farming
Todd Township, PA, adopts a Community Rights law prohibiting industrial factory farming to protect their community and preserve local farming operations.
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Press Release: India Court Declares Legal Rights of “Entire Animal Kingdom”
Northern India Court issues ruling in growing Rights of Nature movement: “Every species has an inherent right to live and are required to be protected by law.”
View All Upcoming Events
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Democracy School in Lancaster, PA
July 28, 2018Join Lancaster County, PA, residents in CELDF's Democracy School on July 28th!
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Democracy School in Newmarket, NH
August 17, 2018 — August 18, 2018Join Newmarket, NH, community members as they work to protect their water! Attend the Newmarket, NH, Democracy School August 17th-18th.
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How You can Protect People & Planet over Profit – Epping, NH
September 27, 2018New Hampshire communities look at Community Rights to protect themselves from the Granite Bridge pipeline project. Learn more here!
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Ohio Community Rights Conference
September 29, 2018The Ohio Community Rights Conference: Growing Roots and Rights for Just Communities is bringing together people with diverse issues from across the state to discover common origins and explore systemic solutions. Join us!
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Always know the latest news from the front of the movement. Aside from donating time or money, joining this list is the best way to support the ongoing efforts of CELDF.
Featured Articles
The Guardian: Our laws make slaves of nature. It’s not just humans who need rights
May 23, 2018As 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, 2018An 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, 2018CELDF'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
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...
Fight for a more democratic tomorrow, today.
Our democracy has been usurped by corporations. Please give today to help CELDF return the democratic process to the people. CELDF uses every dollar of your donation to fight for rights.
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.
Learn MoreShow Your Support. Take Action Now.
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Water Protectors in Nottingham, NH
Show Your SupportNottingham, 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.
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Lincoln Co, OR, Residents & the Siletz River Challenge the Timber Industry
Show Your SupportFor 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.
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Grant Township, PA: A Stand to Protect Their Water & Their Community
Show Your SupportFor 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.