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Feb 3, 2020

Who Speaks for Lake Erie?

Who Speaks for Lake Erie?

Toledoans are tired of waiting for action out of Columbus. State and federal authorities — who are supposed to protect the lake, and the people who rely on it for drinking water, recreation and more — should step up to their responsibilities.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Feb 3, 2020

Blog: Crisis Calls for More Democracy, Not Less

Blog: Crisis Calls for More Democracy, Not Less

Financial and environmental crises call for more democracy – not less. Yet we see these crises used by U.S. and state governments to suspend democracy. It’s time to stop it.

Read More | Press Releases & Blogs

Jan 27, 2020

Press Release: Lake Erie’s Day in Court

Press Release: Lake Erie’s Day in Court

Organizations, activists, government officials, and hundreds of others from around the world support the Lake Erie Bill of Rights as oral arguments in federal court are held tomorrow.

Read More | Community Wires, Press Releases & Blogs

Jan 25, 2020

The Blade: More at stake than water with Lake Erie Bill of Rights court decision

The Blade: More at stake than water with Lake Erie Bill of Rights court decision

Can a corporation 40 miles from Toledo interfere with the rights of Toledoans to amend their charter and protect Lake Erie?

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Jan 21, 2020

Lake Erie Bill of Rights Heads to Federal Court

Lake Erie Bill of Rights Heads to Federal Court

Oral arguments in the federal case brought by a corporation to overturn the Lake Erie Bill of Rights are coming up. The world stands with Toledoans.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Jan 20, 2020

Wink News: Push by Florida lawmakers to block bill giving ‘legal rights’ to nature

Wink News: Push by Florida lawmakers to block bill giving ‘legal rights’ to nature

Florida state representatives endeavor to stop Rights of Nature as growing numbers of communities across the state advance local laws recognizing such rights.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Jan 19, 2020

NBC 24News: Toledoans For Safe Water screen “Invisible Hand” ahead of the state’s lawsuit against city

NBC 24News: Toledoans For Safe Water screen “Invisible Hand” ahead of the state’s lawsuit against city

Toledoans grow support for the Lake Erie Bill of Rights as their day in court approaches.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Jan 9, 2020

Blog: Dillon’s Rule Under Scrutiny in Virginia

Blog: Dillon’s Rule Under Scrutiny in Virginia

Progressives may find Democratic wins favorable. But as long as Dillon’s Rule (legalized state preemption) stops local community self-government from heightening environmental and economic protections, no political party is going to help.

Read More | Press Releases & Blogs

Dec 10, 2019

Guest Blog: A Conversation with The Guardian

Guest Blog: A Conversation with The Guardian

LEBOR activists exchanged views with The Guardian on Rights of Nature and human rights. Here, they make clear the need to recognize that it is not nature’s rights vs human rights, but those combined against corporate claimed rights.

Read More | Community Wires, Press Releases & Blogs

Dec 5, 2019

Blog: A Fundamentally Humanizing Agenda

Blog: A Fundamentally Humanizing Agenda

The current administration wants a crackdown on people experiencing homelessness. It’s time, instead, for a humanizing agenda, such as that advanced by Denver residents this year.

Read More | Press Releases & Blogs

Nov 25, 2019

Media Release: First Rights of Nature legislation introduced in Australia

Media Release: First Rights of Nature legislation introduced in Australia

The first Rights of Nature legislation is introduced in Australia, into the Western Australia Parliament. CELDF’s International Center for the Rights of Nature assisted in drafting the law.

Read More | Community Wires, Press Releases & Blogs, Success Story

Nov 13, 2019

Scalawag: Progressive wins in Virginia are limited as long as “Dillon’s Rule” is on the books

Scalawag: Progressive wins in Virginia are limited as long as “Dillon’s Rule” is on the books

Regardless of political gains by Democrats in Virginia, residents still do not have authority to govern themselves in their own communities. Here’s why – and what communities can do about it.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Nov 11, 2019

Media Statement: Settlement Announced with Oil and Gas Industry Seeking Monetary Award: Ban Against Injection Wells Continues

Media Statement: Settlement Announced with Oil and Gas Industry Seeking Monetary Award: Ban Against Injection Wells Continues

Following settlement of one of the lawsuits against Grant Township, PA, for daring to protect its water from a frack wastewater injection well, the township continues to stand up to the oil and gas industry.

Read More | Community Wires, Press Releases & Blogs

Nov 4, 2019

Press Release: Election 2019: Corporations Are Determining What Gets Voted On

Press Release: Election 2019: Corporations Are Determining What Gets Voted On

Efforts are growing to not only determine how people vote, but what gets voted on. Your ballot measures are not yours to democratically determine.

Read More | Press Releases & Blogs

Oct 23, 2019

In Plain Sight

In Plain Sight

Since its inception, a state-wide movement in Ohio has faced a state and corporate attack that amounts to concerted opposition from all branches of state government, corporate lobbies, private law firms, and both political parties. The entire repressive apparatus has revealed itself in 2019, for all to see.

Read More | Publications

Oct 23, 2019

High Country News: In Oregon, the fight for local control upends Western norms

High Country News: In Oregon, the fight for local control upends Western norms

Lincoln County residents continue their fight to protect themselves and ecosystems from aerial sprayed pesticides, and spark not only hope, but tangible strategies for advancing rights.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Oct 16, 2019

Press Release: Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Attacks 4-Year-Old Community Water Protection Law

Press Release: Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Attacks 4-Year-Old Community Water Protection Law

The people’s own Department of Environmental Protection in Pennsylvania sues Grant Township to overturn a democratically enacted Home Rule charter that includes a ban on fracking wastewater injection wells. This was their day in court.

Read More | Community Wires, Press Releases & Blogs

Oct 10, 2019

Media Statement: Constitutional Amendment Introduced in Pennsylvania

Media Statement: Constitutional Amendment Introduced in Pennsylvania

Community Rights advances to the state level as a Pennsylvania legislator introduces the “Local Self-Government Amendment,” elevating people and communities over corporations.

Read More | Community Wires, Press Releases & Blogs, Success Story

Oct 8, 2019

Media Release: Rights of Nature Constitutional Amendment Introduced in Sweden’s Parliament

Media Release: Rights of Nature Constitutional Amendment Introduced in Sweden’s Parliament

A representative in Sweden’s Parliament introduces Rights of Nature legislation – the first time a European national government considers the rights of ecosystems.

Read More | Community Wires, Press Releases & Blogs, Success Story

Oct 2, 2019

Media Statement: Court Issues Decision on Two Year Aerial Pesticides Ban in Lincoln County, Oregon

Media Statement: Court Issues Decision on Two Year Aerial Pesticides Ban in Lincoln County, Oregon

Lincoln County, Oregon, community members prepare to appeal judge’s denial of their right to protect themselves from aerial sprayed pesticides.

Read More | Community Wires, Press Releases & Blogs

Sep 30, 2019

Press Release: Ohio Courts Continue Attack on Local Democracy and Rights of Nature, Petitioners Seek Federal Remedies

Press Release: Ohio Courts Continue Attack on Local Democracy and Rights of Nature, Petitioners Seek Federal Remedies

Williams County, Ohio, residents submit request to join a multi-plaintiff federal civil rights lawsuit against state of Ohio as they continue to be blocked from the ballot.

Read More | Community Wires, Press Releases & Blogs

Sep 10, 2019

My Plainview: How giving legal rights to nature could help reduce toxic algae blooms in Lake Erie

My Plainview: How giving legal rights to nature could help reduce toxic algae blooms in Lake Erie

An analysis of Rights of Nature laws as a path forward to protecting ecosystems in the face of continuing environmental harms.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Aug 29, 2019

Media Release: EXPOSED: Chamber of Commerce Wrote Ohio Law Banning Rights of Nature Enforcement

Media Release: EXPOSED: Chamber of Commerce Wrote Ohio Law Banning Rights of Nature Enforcement

Investigation by Ohio citizens finds the Ohio Chamber of Commerce drafted Ohio legislation language to stop Rights of Nature enforcement.

Read More | Community Wires, News, Press Releases

Aug 21, 2019

Press Release: Democracy Challenged in Williams County, Petitioners Appeal to Ohio Supreme Court Again

Press Release: Democracy Challenged in Williams County, Petitioners Appeal to Ohio Supreme Court Again

Williams County, Ohio, residents partner with CELDF to fight for their right to vote in the Ohio Supreme Court.

Read More | Community Wires, Democratic Rights, News, Press Releases

Aug 13, 2019

Media Statement: Lake Erie Bill of Rights Court Case Heats Up as Algae Bloom Grows

Media Statement: Lake Erie Bill of Rights Court Case Heats Up as Algae Bloom Grows

The City of Toledo takes a stand in court to defend the Lake Erie Bill of Rights.

Read More | Community Wires, News, Press Releases

Aug 12, 2019

Bryan Times: Forum: County charter being stonewalled

Bryan Times: Forum: County charter being stonewalled

Williams County, Ohio, residents are working to protect their county’s water source from privatization. Their own government is trying to stop them.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Aug 12, 2019

Next City: Can Cities Grant Nature the Right to Exist, and Thrive?

Next City: Can Cities Grant Nature the Right to Exist, and Thrive?

More and more cities are taking action to end the commodification and exploitation of people and nature for corporate profit, using Community Rights and Rights of Nature.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots, Success Story

Aug 3, 2019

NPR: Should Rivers Have Same Legal Rights As Humans? A Growing Number Of Voices Say Yes

NPR: Should Rivers Have Same Legal Rights As Humans? A Growing Number Of Voices Say Yes

NPR covers this story on the growing Rights of Nature movement across the U.S. and around the world. “‘[W]e have to change our environmental protection in this country and across the world, because obviously what we’re doing isn’t working.'”

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots, Success Story

Jul 31, 2019

Truthout: States Are Thwarting Cities’ Attempts to Govern Themselves

Truthout: States Are Thwarting Cities’ Attempts to Govern Themselves

The federal court’s decision to uphold the Berkeley cellphone radiation disclosure law should not be mistaken for judicial deference to the right of local self-government.

Read More | News from the Grassroots

Jul 22, 2019

Press Release: Ballot Access Stymied in Ohio and Washington

Press Release: Ballot Access Stymied in Ohio and Washington

The corporate state attempts to strip democratic rights in Ohio and Washington state. CELDF supports communities as together they fight back.

Read More | Community Wires, News, Press Releases

Jul 22, 2019

The Columbus Dispatch: Letter: Budget section tramples on community, nature’s rights

The Columbus Dispatch: Letter: Budget section tramples on community, nature’s rights

Community members in Columbus, Ohio, call out the state legislators’ shameful efforts to quash Rights of Nature in the budget bill.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Jul 22, 2019

Lake Erie Advocates’ Media Statement: Ohio Legislature Attacks Rights of Nature, Protects Polluters in Budget Bill

Lake Erie Advocates’ Media Statement: Ohio Legislature Attacks Rights of Nature, Protects Polluters in Budget Bill

Community groups release joint statement revealing not only the Ohio legislature’s efforts to stop Rights of Nature, but also expanding protections of industrial agricultural operations.

Read More | Community Wires, News, Press Releases

Jul 18, 2019

Media Release: Ohio Legislature Bans Rights of Nature Enforcement

Media Release: Ohio Legislature Bans Rights of Nature Enforcement

While Rights of Nature grows in Ohio, the state legislature tries to ban its enforcement. Undeterred, Ohio communities continue advancing laws to protect ecosystems based on rights.

Read More | Community Wires, News, Press Releases

Jul 17, 2019

CELDF on the Daily Show: The Fight to Turn Lake Erie into a Person

CELDF on the Daily Show: The Fight to Turn Lake Erie into a Person

The Daily Show’s Michael Kosta covers Toledo residents’ work to protect Lake Erie by recognizing the Lake’s rights…and he takes the Lake’s…hand in marriage?!

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots, Success Story

Jul 16, 2019

WGCU: The Rights of Nature Movement Comes to Lee County

WGCU: The Rights of Nature Movement Comes to Lee County

CELDF co-founder Thomas Linzey on the growing Rights of Nature movement as the people of Lee County, Florida, look to recognize the rights of the Caloosahatchee River.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Jul 11, 2019

Media Release: Rights of Michindoh Aquifer Encounter First Hurdle

Media Release: Rights of Michindoh Aquifer Encounter First Hurdle

While efforts mount to stop Rights of Nature in Ohio, community groups press on, insisting on their right to protect the ecosystems upon which they depend.

Read More | Community Wires, News, Press Releases

Jul 3, 2019

Blog: The Federalists Betrayed the Revolution We Celebrate on July 4th

Blog: The Federalists Betrayed the Revolution We Celebrate on July 4th

As we celebrate July 4th, let us remember that the ideal of the American Revolution have yet to be realized. There are communities today fighting for those democratic ideals. Let’s join them.

Read More | Blogs, News

Jul 2, 2019

Common Dreams: The Meek Be Damned on Global Warming

Common Dreams: The Meek Be Damned on Global Warming

A call to action by CELDF’s Thomas Linzey – the time to act is now, advancing community democracy in the name of sustainability, and the rights of nature.

Read More | News from the Grassroots

Jul 1, 2019

Press Release: Major Developments for Lake Erie Bill of Rights

Press Release: Major Developments for Lake Erie Bill of Rights

Rights of Nature is hot in Ohio, where Toledoans take action to protect the Lake Erie Bill of Rights, another community advances an initiative to recognize the rights of a water ecosystem, legal cases continue, and more.

Read More | News, Press Releases

Jun 27, 2019

Toledo Residents’ Media Release: Citizens Recognize the Lake Erie Bill of Rights as the Will of the People

Toledo Residents’ Media Release: Citizens Recognize the Lake Erie Bill of Rights as the Will of the People

As the state of Ohio attempts to undermine the will of Toledo community members, residents file a pro se complaint to uphold the Lake Erie Bill of Rights.

Read More | Community Wires, News, Press Releases, Success Story

Jun 27, 2019

Media Release: Anti-Rights of Nature Language Snuck into Ohio State Budget Bill

Media Release: Anti-Rights of Nature Language Snuck into Ohio State Budget Bill

State of Ohio inserts anti-Rights of Nature language in the budget bill. In an era of climate crisis and growing efforts to advance ecosystem rights, Ohio government is on the wrong side of history.

Read More | Community Wires, News, Press Releases

Jun 26, 2019

Media Statement: Ohio Group Submits Signatures to Recognize Rights for Michindoh Aquifer

Media Statement: Ohio Group Submits Signatures to Recognize Rights for Michindoh Aquifer

Community Rights and Rights of Nature continue to grow in Ohio as Williams County residents submit their citizen initiative to protect themselves from corporate water withdrawals.

Read More | Community Wires, News, Press Releases, Success Story

Jun 16, 2019

Blanca Livier Blog: Colima makes history: They recognize the Rights of Nature in the Constitution

Blanca Livier Blog: Colima makes history: They recognize the Rights of Nature in the Constitution

The State of Colima in Mexico recognizes the Rights of Nature in its constitution.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots