Outside Publication, Author at CELDF

May 7, 2024

The Great Salt Lake is Disappearing… So Utah Bans Rights of Nature.

The Great Salt Lake. Image by Erin Testone. A growing number of American jurisdictions are outlawing Right of Nature as we embark on the greatest rates of extinctions in our planetary history. In this essay, Will Falk, encourages Rights of Nature advocates to recognize that we cannot wait for courts and governments to enforce Rights… Read more »

Jan 17, 2024

International Rights of Nature Tribunal rules impacts caused by current forestry model as ecocide

Press release · 11th Local Rights of Nature Tribunal Biobío, Concepción, Chile International Rights of Nature Tribunal rules impacts caused by current forestry model as ecocide The International Rights of Nature Tribunal held its 11th Local Tribunal in the Biobío region in Chile on Friday, January 12, focusing its attention on the violations of the Rights of… Read more »

Read More | News, Press Releases, Rights of Nature

Sep 1, 2023

Beaver Creek Press Release

100% of the water from the Seal Rock Water District (SRWD) comes from Beaver Creek.

Aug 2, 2023

Unmuting Rights of Nature

“In our history, humans were owned at one point. That is the position Nature is currently in.”

Local Governments Are Blocking Ballot Initiatives at the Behest of Corporations

Feature photo by Paul Vernon AFP via Getty Images In 1979, the children’s educational television series Schoolhouse Rock! broadcast a now-classic episode titled “Three Ring Government” about the three branches of the U.S. government — executive, legislative and judicial. “No one part can be more powerful than the other,” proclaimed the narrator, who explains that our system of government… Read more »

May 31, 2023

Group announces PGE to plug controversial well

According to the CELDF, “not a single drop of frack waste has been injected within the township due to hard work, resistance and resilience.”

May 24, 2023

Waste well to be plugged in Grant Township

Feature photo by Mike Belleme, Rolling Stone GRANT TOWNSHIP — The online publication Marcellus Drilling News headlined the item this way: “Bad Guys Win: PA General Energy to Plug Grant Twp Injection Well.” The Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund sees what happened differently, after Warren-based PGE, also known as Pennsylvania General Energy LLC, notified the… Read more »

When We Became Trees – A Short Story by Blake Lavia

“When we became trees, we left behind I and we became We.”

Read More | Community Wires, Rights of Nature

May 3, 2023

From Lake to Lagoon: Exploring Sustainability in Cleveland & Venice

CELDF’s Tish O’Dell will be present at this free public event as part of the community programming for the exhibition Everlasting Plastics, curated by the Cleveland gallery SPACES for the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennial.

Toledo voters approved a bill of rights for Lake Erie. A group wants the same for the Ohio River

Feature photo by Bill Rinehart/WVXU “An advocacy group wants Cincinnati to recognize the right of the Ohio River to thrive. Members of Citizens for the Rights of the Ohio River Watershed are circulating a petition to get an amendment to Cincinnati’s charter on the ballot. Susan VonderHaar says CROW members want to give the river a seat… Read more »

Mar 29, 2023

An Earth Day Presentation – No More Enviro-Mentalism: Earth Emancipation Now!

April 18th at 3:00 PM CELDF’s Ben Price will be speaking at Youngstown University in Ohio for Earth Day. Dr. Ray’s Energy and Environment Speaker Series, Ohio Environmental Council, and Citizens’ Climate Lobby Mahoning Valley Chapter present an Earth Day 2023 event on Tuesday April 18th at 3 PM in YSU Kilcawley Center – “No More Enviro-Mentalism:… Read more »

Read More | Events, News from the Grassroots

Mar 28, 2023

Webinar Sheds Light on Community’s Fight Against Fracking Waste Injection Well

Thursday, April 6th at 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM EDT FracTracker Alliance and Halt the Harm Network will host a special virtual screening of the documentary film “Hellbent” on April 6, 2023, at 2 p.m. ET. The screening will be followed by a discussion with the filmmakers and those involved in the fight to protect… Read more »

East Palestine: “We Basically Nuked a Town with Chemicals So We Could Get a Railroad Open”

We can’t turn back time, but we can change this disastrous system so no company can harm communities in this way ever again.

LEBOR like bill in New York seeks Rights of Nature for Great Lakes

New York State Assemblyman Patrick Burke, a 37-year-old Democrat from the Buffalo area, has introduced legislation “that will create a Great Lakes Bill of Rights with the goal of securing legal rights for the entire ecosystem and giving people and nature a role in the decision-making process regarding current and future projects that impact the… Read more »

Read More | News, News from the Grassroots, Rights of Nature

Jan 5, 2022

Glen’s Parallax Perspectives – Interview with Kai Huschke

Glen Anderson interviewed two experts — Kai Huschke and Elliott Moffett — who have savvy insights and practical experience working to protect environments and establish legal rights for nature.

Read More | News from the Grassroots

Dec 30, 2021

Los Cedros Ecuador Decision (En Español)

La Corte Constitucional revisa la sentencia de segunda instancia emitida por la Corte
Provincial de Justicia de Imbabura dentro de la acción de protección presentada por el GAD de
Santa Ana de Cotacachi en favor del Bosque Protector Los Cedros, en la cual se alegaron como
vulnerados los derechos de la naturaleza, el derecho a un ambiente sano, el derecho al agua y la consulta ambiental.

Portrait of a water guardian – WT Interview with Tish O’Dell

What is the force that propels a woman forward in taking a courageous stand for water and the environment water creates?
Here is what Tish O’Dell told WATERTODAY Ohio.

Read More | News from the Grassroots

Nov 11, 2021

BOOK: One-Block Revolution

CELDF’s Kai Huschke was centrally involved in the first-in-the-nation Community Bill of Rights and Worker Bill of Rights. His chapter for the new book One-Block Revolution, details the community building behind the efforts.

Legal Self Defense

Legal Self Defense understands that the U.S. Constitution guarantees neither fairness nor safety, but that de-escalation skills coupled with some targeted legal knowledge can improve your security during interactions with law enforcement.

Read More | Defunding Violence, Publications

Oct 8, 2021

Book: The Politics of Rights of Nature

How Rights of Nature laws are transforming governance to address environmental crises through more ecologically sustainable approaches to development.

Read More | News, Publications, Rights of Nature

Sep 23, 2021

Corporation Asks Nottingham, N.H. For Legal Fees After Suing Over Climate Ordinance

The Freedom From Chemical Trespass Rights-Based Ordinance asserted residents’ rights to a healthy climate and banned corporate activities that would interfere with those rights, punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 per day.

Jul 30, 2021

Columbus Free Press: Stifling Democracy?

One citizen-led initiative makes it on November’s ballot but the other is denied By Free Press Staff The citizen-led ProEnergy Ohio ballot initiative is likely making Columbus City Council, the Mayor’s Office and the Columbus Partnership take serious pause. Many believed the initiative was doomed, yet it made it on November’s ballot. Unfortunately, another environmental… Read more »

Youth Declaration on the Rights of Nature and Future Generations

Earth Law Center and the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature (GARN) Youth Hub led two sessions on “Youth and the Rights of Nature Movement: shifting the paradigm for all future generations” at the first IUCN Global Youth Summit April 7-9. As a result of the Rights of Nature sessions, a Declaration was drafted.… Read more »

Read More | Community Wires, Issues, News, Resource Links, Rights of Nature

Jul 29, 2021

Glen Ford, Veteran Journalist And Founder Of Black Agenda Report, Dies At 71

Glen Ford spent more than four decades delivering the news from a Black perspective on a national scale.

Grant Township sued again over refusal to allow fracking water

Coverage on the ongoing Rights of Nature efforts in Grant Township – see the full original article by the Indiana Gazette.

Nov 6, 2020

Remembering a Rights of Nature Warrior

Reekumani Greendeer was a fierce advocate for Nature. We will honor his memory through continued efforts for the Rights of Nature.

Reuters: ‘Dramatic’ global rise in laws defending rights of nature

From Bolivia to New Zealand, rivers and ecosystems in at least 14 countries have won the legal right to exist and flourish, as a new way of safeguarding nature gains steam. This new legal route to protect the planet – overriding the long-held human right to harm – bring fresh arguments to court, rally communities and shift local politics.

Read More | Issues, News from the Grassroots, Rights of Nature

Sep 6, 2020

Earth Defenders Warn Against Democrats Undermining ‘Rights of Nature’ Movement With Watered-Down Approach

Rights of Nature advocates caution against handing over Rights of Nature oversight to the Democratic Party.

Jul 8, 2020

Staying Home with Josh Fox: Preemption and Property Rights

Ben Price discusses Rights of Nature and how the concepts of preemption, claimed corporate rights, and property rights challenge local democracy and ecosystem rights.

Jul 7, 2020

Common Dreams: Corporations Are Suing Cities Across the USA

A new Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund report details a standard operating procedure of how corporate interests, and the politicians who serve them, retain power.

Read More | Corporate 'Rights', Resource Links

Jun 29, 2020

Thom Hartmann Program: State Law Benefits Corporations Against You – You Lose

Chad Nicholson joins Thom Hartmann to discuss how the 1% are effectively, suing the 99% for their own benefit, citing the findings of our June 2020 Report.

Read More | Corporate 'Rights', News from the Grassroots

Apr 22, 2020

Common Dreams: Abolish Earth Day

For 50 years, environmentalists have celebrated the illusion that the law is on their side. Earth Day’s laws have systematically failed to guard against mass species die-offs, the climate crisis, deadly air pollution, the corporatization of freshwater, and the largest loss of biodiversity in human history.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Apr 13, 2020

Podcast Interview: Grant Township Update on Political Misfits

Pennsylvania organizer, Chad Nicholson, discusses the Rights of Nature victory in Grant Township despite the ongoing rollback of environmental protections across the country.

Read More | News from the Grassroots, Resource Links

Apr 9, 2020

Rights of Nature Interview on KB00 Radio!

Pacific Northwest organizer, Kai Huschke, details how COVID-19 has opens timely conversation about the Rights of Nature as a legal framework for protecting Nature.

Apr 6, 2020

People Power in a Time of Pandemic

In this interview, Kai speaks on the current state of community rights, gives an explanation of the events taking place in Grant Township, and talks about how we must take this time during Covid-19 to progress forward in the movement.

Apr 2, 2020

Rolling Stone: Nature Scores a Big Win Against Fracking in a Small Pennsylvania Town

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) revoked a permit for a toxic frack waste injection well in Grant Township. The DEP cited the Township’s Home Rule Charter, which includes a “Community Bill of Rights,” in their decision. Through the Charter that residents adopted in 2015, they banned injections wells as a violation of the rights of the community and the ecosystems that sustain them. CELDF assisted in drafting and defending the law.

Feb 6, 2020

Rights of Nature Podcast: Kai Huschke

Check out this interview with CELDF’s Hawaii and Northwest organizer, Kai Huschke, on CELDF’s partnerships with communities across the U.S. who have spearheaded the Rights of Nature movement.

Feb 6, 2020

Rights of Nature: Ohio Organizer Tish O’Dell on Top of Mind with Julie Rose

If corporations have individual rights under US law – like freedom of speech – why not a grant a lake or forest or river the same status? Ohio organizer Tish O’Dell talks about Toledo’s groundbreaking law – the Lake Erie Bill of Rights – and the Rights of Nature Movement!

Oct 14, 2019

Cleveland.com: Letter To The Editor: Talk to the people of Toledo about the increasingly poor health of Lake Erie

An Ohio resident makes clear that it is state government itself that is driving forward polluting Lake Erie. The state is even joining a lawsuit to overturn the Lake Erie Bill of Rights while permitting four factory farms.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Oct 14, 2019

Oregon Coast Today: A life of politics and peace

Meet Maria Sause, and her life and commitment to Community Rights in Lincoln County, where residents are fighting a recent court decision to overturn their rights-based ban on aerial pesticide spraying.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Oct 10, 2019

Common Dreams: The Rights of Nature

“The Rights of Nature movement…is about ushering humanity back onto a living planet.”

Read More | News from the Grassroots

Oct 5, 2019

The Indiana Gazette: Hellbenders have their day in court

Grant Township, Pennsylvania, argued for their environmental rights in court as they defend themselves against their own Department of Protection to stop a fracking injection well.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Oct 1, 2019

The Blade: Lake Fed Up

This Toledoan calls out Ohio government officials: actions speak louder than words, and promises to protect Lake Erie ring hollow when the state approves factory farm permits.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Sep 29, 2019

Mother Jones: Some Indigenous Communities Have a New Way to Fight Climate Change: Give Personhood Rights to Nature

The Yurok Tribe recognizes the rights of the Klamath River this summer as part of the growing Rights of Nature movement.

Sep 16, 2019

WINK News: Clean water advocates work to get Caloosahatchee amendment on 2020 ballot

Lee County, Florida, residents advance a bill of rights for the Caloosahatchee River, joining five other Florida counties advancing similar measures.

Sep 14, 2019

Truthout: Legislators’ Secretive Maneuvers Undermine Rights of Nature in Ohio

The unsurprising truth behind legislation adopted by the Ohio Assembly in an effort to undermine the Rights of Nature movement.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Sep 11, 2019

Farm and Dairy: Emails show LEBOR was target of last-minute change in law

Corporate control runs deep in the Ohio legislature as the big business writes language to stop Rights of Nature enforcement.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Sep 10, 2019

The Toledo Blade: Back off ballot-measure limits

The Editorial Board of the Toledo Blade speaks out against the legislature’s proposed bill making it more difficult for citizens to place initiatives on the ballot.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Sep 7, 2019

Thom Hartmann Book Club: How Wealth Rules the World

Thom Hartmann Book Club covers CELDF’s Ben G. Price’s book, How Wealth Rules the World. Check out this interview!

Read More | News from the Grassroots

Sep 5, 2019

Concord Monitor: My Turn: The rights of nature

This New Hampshire resident urges continued recognition of nature’s rights to end the insane ravaging of Earth’s ecosystem.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Book: ‘Death by Democracy’

CELDF's Proposed Rights of Nature Principles

2023 Year-end Newsletter: Living with Nature

The Great Salt Lake is Disappearing… So Utah Bans Rights of Nature.

International Rights of Nature Tribunal rules impacts caused by current forestry model as ecocide

Beaver Creek Press Release

Unmuting Rights of Nature

Local Governments Are Blocking Ballot Initiatives at the Behest of Corporations

Group announces PGE to plug controversial well

Waste well to be plugged in Grant Township

When We Became Trees – A Short Story by Blake Lavia

From Lake to Lagoon: Exploring Sustainability in Cleveland & Venice

Toledo voters approved a bill of rights for Lake Erie. A group wants the same for the Ohio River

An Earth Day Presentation – No More Enviro-Mentalism: Earth Emancipation Now!

Webinar Sheds Light on Community’s Fight Against Fracking Waste Injection Well

East Palestine: “We Basically Nuked a Town with Chemicals So We Could Get a Railroad Open”

LEBOR like bill in New York seeks Rights of Nature for Great Lakes

Glen’s Parallax Perspectives – Interview with Kai Huschke

Los Cedros Ecuador Decision (En Español)

Portrait of a water guardian – WT Interview with Tish O’Dell

BOOK: One-Block Revolution

Legal Self Defense

Book: The Politics of Rights of Nature

Corporation Asks Nottingham, N.H. For Legal Fees After Suing Over Climate Ordinance

Columbus Free Press: Stifling Democracy?

Youth Declaration on the Rights of Nature and Future Generations

Glen Ford, Veteran Journalist And Founder Of Black Agenda Report, Dies At 71

Grant Township sued again over refusal to allow fracking water

Remembering a Rights of Nature Warrior

Reuters: ‘Dramatic’ global rise in laws defending rights of nature

Earth Defenders Warn Against Democrats Undermining ‘Rights of Nature’ Movement With Watered-Down Approach

Staying Home with Josh Fox: Preemption and Property Rights

Common Dreams: Corporations Are Suing Cities Across the USA

Thom Hartmann Program: State Law Benefits Corporations Against You – You Lose

Common Dreams: Abolish Earth Day

Podcast Interview: Grant Township Update on Political Misfits

Rights of Nature Interview on KB00 Radio!

People Power in a Time of Pandemic

Rolling Stone: Nature Scores a Big Win Against Fracking in a Small Pennsylvania Town

Rights of Nature Podcast: Kai Huschke

Rights of Nature: Ohio Organizer Tish O’Dell on Top of Mind with Julie Rose

Cleveland.com: Letter To The Editor: Talk to the people of Toledo about the increasingly poor health of Lake Erie

Oregon Coast Today: A life of politics and peace

Common Dreams: The Rights of Nature

The Indiana Gazette: Hellbenders have their day in court

The Blade: Lake Fed Up

Mother Jones: Some Indigenous Communities Have a New Way to Fight Climate Change: Give Personhood Rights to Nature

WINK News: Clean water advocates work to get Caloosahatchee amendment on 2020 ballot

Truthout: Legislators’ Secretive Maneuvers Undermine Rights of Nature in Ohio

Farm and Dairy: Emails show LEBOR was target of last-minute change in law

The Toledo Blade: Back off ballot-measure limits

Thom Hartmann Book Club: How Wealth Rules the World

Concord Monitor: My Turn: The rights of nature

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