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Sep 17, 2024
Feature photo by Samuel Regan-Asante on Unsplash Opposing harmful industrial projects – like mines, aerial pesticide spraying, factory farms, or toxic waste disposal facilities – is scary and difficult work. Feeling this fear and confronting the difficulty of the work, it is tempting to cling to false, but comforting beliefs that the communities we belong to… Read more »
Read More | BlogsAug 6, 2024
On August 2, 2014, Toledo residents awoke to government alerts to not drink, bathe, use or touch the water coming out of their taps. The water could make adult humans very sick and even worse for babies, children, and anyone with compromised immune systems. Fish, animals, and plants weren’t even considered. What was clear though,… Read more »
Read More | News, Rights of NatureJun 18, 2024
The prospect of liability introduced by conferral of personhood status monetizes the relationship between humans and the rest of nature.
Read More | Blogs, Community Rights, Democratic Rights, Rights of NatureMay 8, 2024
Feature photo by Brian Yurasits FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 7, 2024 Contact: Tish O’Dell tish@celdf.org 440-552-6774 Terry Lodge, Attorney CELDF tjlodge50@yahoo.com 419-205-7084 Athens Local Businesses Support Rights of Nature and the City’s Plastic Bag Ban in Amicus Curiae OHIO, Athens County – CELDF has filed an amicus brief in Athens County, Ohio Common Pleas Court… Read more »
Read More | Press ReleasesMay 8, 2024
Feature photo by Christine Roy Like Junk Mail, Junk Speech is Trash Talk Freedom of speech isn’t what it used to be. Toward the end of the 20th century and at the beginning of the 21st, its definition was changed in two unprecedented rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court. Today, what’s called free speech has… Read more »
Read More | Blogs, Community Rights, Corporate 'Rights', Corporate Agriculture, Democratic Rights, Extraction & Pollution, Rights of NatureMay 7, 2024
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 »
Read More | Blogs, Chemical Trespass, Extraction & Pollution, Rights of NatureMar 27, 2024
Testimony of a Community Organizer CELDF’s Consulting Director, Tish O’Dell, submitted her testimony, “Am I an Activist?” to the 2024 Spring Activism Peace Chronicle publication. Tish has been involved in community rights and Rights of Nature work starting in her own community of Broadview Heights, Ohio, which led to the adoption of Ohio’s first Home… Read more »
Read More | Blogs, Chemical Trespass, Community Rights, Democratic Rights, Extraction & Pollution, Rights of Nature, Water PrivitizationFeb 2, 2024
Developed through an ongoing partnership with CELDF Exist, Flourish, Evolve is a new, multi-site, multimedia campaign that builds awareness and action around the dangers facing Lake Erie and the Great Lakes ecosystem.
Read More | Press Releases, Rights of NatureJan 17, 2024
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 NatureNov 6, 2023
We need you to help us partner with others in fostering a culture and governing system that is all about community-based governing authority in the name of right relationship with Nature. We invite you to apply today!
Read More | News, ResourcesSep 1, 2023
100% of the water from the Seal Rock Water District (SRWD) comes from Beaver Creek.
Read More | Chemical Trespass, Community Rights, Community Wires, Corporate 'Rights', Corporate Agriculture, Democratic Rights, Extraction & Pollution, Rights of NatureAug 22, 2023
Featured photo: The plaintiffs in Held v. State of Montana walking and chatting outside the courthouse. (Photo: Robin Loznak) It will take an extended commitment to community organizing to expand the Held ruling into tangible relief as a vital state constitutional protection for nature. The 16 child plaintiffs in Held v. State of Montana, the Children’s… Read more »
Read More | Blogs, Chemical Trespass, Community Rights, Corporate 'Rights', Democratic Rights, Extraction & Pollution, Rights of NatureAug 17, 2023
The centuries-long Enclosure (privatization) Movement in the U. S. is nearing completion.
Read More | Blogs, Chemical Trespass, Community Rights, Corporate 'Rights', Democratic Rights, Rights of NatureJul 31, 2023
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 »
Read More | Blogs, Community Rights, Democratic Rights, Rights of NatureJul 25, 2023
Anti-intellectualism is as American as hot dogs.
Read More | Blogs, Chemical Trespass, Community Rights, Corporate 'Rights', Corporate Agriculture, Democratic Rights, Extraction & Pollution, Houselessness, Rights of Nature, Water Privitization, Worker ExploitationJul 10, 2023
In our legal system, one is either a legal subject (humans and corporations) or a legal object (nature)
Read More | Blogs, Chemical Trespass, Community Rights, Corporate 'Rights', Corporate Agriculture, Democratic Rights, Extraction & Pollution, Rights of NatureJul 7, 2023
Difficult as it may be, we’d all be better off focusing on how to change the legal system itself instead of pleading for stricter regulations.
Read More | Blogs, Chemical Trespass, Community Rights, Corporate Agriculture, Democratic Rights, Extraction & Pollution, News from the Grassroots, Rights of Nature, Water PrivitizationJul 3, 2023
If the persistence of the people of Grant Township in pursuit of justice took ten years for them to prevail, it is because they insisted on the primacy of justice over law that serves the interests of an opulent minority.
Read More | Blogs, Chemical Trespass, Community Rights, Democratic Rights, Extraction & Pollution, News from the Grassroots, Rights of NatureJun 19, 2023
“SLAPP suits are just another tool used by industry and corporations to silence and intimidate those who speak out against them and their activities,” stated Wyatt Sugrue, Chicago attorney.
Read More | Chemical Trespass, Community Rights, Democratic Rights, Press Releases, Rights of NatureJun 2, 2023
The American dream has turned out to be a nightmare. Wouldn’t you say?
Read More | Blogs, Chemical Trespass, Community Rights, Democratic Rights, Extraction & Pollution, Rights of Nature, Worker ExploitationMay 31, 2023
According to the CELDF, “not a single drop of frack waste has been injected within the township due to hard work, resistance and resilience.”
Read More | Chemical Trespass, Community Rights, Democratic Rights, Extraction & Pollution, News, Rights of NatureMay 24, 2023
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 »
Read More | NewsMay 19, 2023
“When we became trees, we left behind I and we became We.”
Read More | Community Wires, Rights of NatureMay 10, 2023
To date, not a single drop of frack waste has been injected within the Township due to hard work, resistance, and resilience.
Read More | Community Rights, Extraction & Pollution, Press Releases, Rights of NatureMay 4, 2023
Dean Barlese, an elder of the Pyramid Lake Paiute-Shoshone, who told us “We’ve got to stand up for our ancestors, they gave their lives, they shed their blood fighting for this land.”
Read More | Community Rights, Community Wires, Democratic Rights, News from the Grassroots, Rights of NatureMay 1, 2023
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 »
Read More | Chemical Trespass, Community Rights, Community Wires, Corporate Agriculture, Democratic Rights, Extraction & Pollution, Issues, News, News from the Grassroots, Rights of NatureApr 17, 2023
“We began to understand through this process that we are not only connected to the Ohio River, but that we are part of the ecosystem,” stated Jim Schenk of CROW.
Read More | Press ReleasesApr 14, 2023
Wednesday, April 19th at 6:30 PM (Central Time) CELDF’s Tish O’Dell will be a panelist on for the upcoming discussion, The Myth of American Democracy: The Ruling Class Crusade Against Community & Nature hosted by Athens Community Rights Coalition at Ohio University.
Read More | Community Wires, Events, News, News from the GrassrootsApr 4, 2023
“It seems like legal rights for community and for nature would almost be unnecessary if our attitude toward the world were based on reciprocity, responsibility, and accountability instead of maximizing personal advantage.”
Read More | Blogs, Community Rights, Democratic Rights, Rights of NatureMar 29, 2023
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 GrassrootsMar 24, 2023
A more honest report on the East Palestine disaster and details how the system itself is to blame and why these horrific and deadly events keep happening and our communities and nature keep bearing the brunt.
Read More | Blogs, Chemical Trespass, Community Rights, Corporate 'Rights', Democratic Rights, Extraction & Pollution, Rights of NatureMar 22, 2023
We must start trusting in ourselves and in our community members to be able to meet our needs, solve our problems and create truly participatory community-based forms of government and public spaces.
Read More | Blogs, Community Rights, Democratic Rights, Rights of NatureMar 14, 2023
The posting of this piece is a reflection of CELDF’s commitment to featuring diverse perspectives and ideas in the quest to bring about a community rights and rights of nature existence into full being.
Read More | BlogsMar 3, 2023
We are used to extracting not only metallic ores and fossil fuels, but ourselves and our communities from the natural world, and yet we don’t notice the increasing distance placed between us and our natural habitat by the human-made environment.
Read More | Blogs, Community Rights, Rights of NatureFeb 7, 2023
The person in this position will play an integral role in expanding CELDF’s support for its mission to advance democratic and environmental rights. This is a part-time remote contract position, with the possibility of an expanded role over time.
Read More | Blogs, News, News from the Grassroots, ResourcesJan 19, 2023
At the risk of expediting the die-off of most life on the planet, including most humans, judges continue to turn a blind eye toward the rights of natural communities – where humans live in harmony with their environment – while giving full-throated support for legal rights vested in corporate property.
Read More | Blogs, Rights of NatureJan 16, 2023
The challenge: How to overcome the white dominance/Black subordination relationship. How to decolonize.
Read More | Blogs, Democratic RightsJan 5, 2023
We must think about our history- the Revolutionaries were proposing an alternative to being a colony of England, abolitionists were fighting for an alternative to slavery, the suffragists for an alternative to patriarchy and on and on.
Read More | Blogs, Democratic RightsDec 20, 2022
Let’s be generous and call the COP–15 agreement a plan for conserving 1% of Earth’s biodiversity. That means that negotiators agreed to sacrifice 99% of Earth’s remaining biodiversity on the altar of human consumption for profit.
Read More | Blogs, Chemical Trespass, Community Rights, Democratic Rights, News from the Grassroots, Rights of NatureDec 20, 2022
As we head into the new year, please join us in continuing to stand with Grant Township. And let’s not only support them with words or dollars, but also follow their lead and bravely build on their efforts in the communities where we live.
Read More | Chemical Trespass, Community Rights, Corporate 'Rights', Democratic Rights, Extraction & Pollution, Press Releases, Rights of NatureDec 10, 2022
Mangroves, according to the Ramsar definition, are considered wetlands – an area that CELDF is also helping to evolve coming out of the Declaration of the Rights of Wetlands.
Read More | Community Rights, Extraction & Pollution, News from the Grassroots, Rights of NatureNov 30, 2022
Feature Photo by Gabriel Kramer / Ideastream Public Media Taru Taylor, a guest blogger with CELDF, helped spearhead efforts to rename law schools named after Former Chief Justice John Marshall, a key architect of the United State’s constitutional system who owned 200 slaves. CELDF along with many others signed onto the calls for law schools… Read more »
Read More | News from the Grassroots, Success StoryNov 17, 2022
“The spreading of toxic and radioactive well waste brine on Ohio roads and other surfaces threatens all Ohioans,” stated FaCT Brine Education Committee Chair, Ron Prosek. “You could be living or traveling anywhere in Ohio and potentially be exposed to this dangerous material. This is one of the most reckless practices that the State of Ohio has ever allowed.”
Read More | Chemical Trespass, Community Wires, News from the Grassroots, Press ReleasesNov 16, 2022
Human and ecosystem viability come when we figure out how to orient our culture to be connected to all four parts: Living from, with, in, and as Nature.
Read More | News, Rights of NatureNov 16, 2022
November 19, 2022 ~ 11AM ET Ben Price – Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) – will be presenting at 11:00AM ET on “Nature as Property and the Nature of Property: Earth Emancipation is the Solution” Sponsored by the NH Conference of the United Church of Christ Co-sponsor: SNEUCC (Southern New England) Register Here. **Registration… Read more »
Read More | Events, NewsNov 10, 2022
View the film on your own or with others (organize a viewing party!) from Friday November 18 to Sunday November 20. The OHCRN will host a Zoom webinar discussion on Sunday November 20 at 2:00 pm ET. The panel will include the filmmaker, Jim Becket.
Read More | Corporate Agriculture, Events, News from the GrassrootsNov 8, 2022
Lakota advocate and water protector Debra White Plume (Wioweya Najin Wina), upon being introduced to the history of municipal subjugation in the United States during a Democracy School hosted by residents of the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, remarked that “municipalities are the white man’s reservations. The only difference is, we know we’re on reservations.”
Read More | Blogs, Community Rights, Democratic Rights, News from the Grassroots, Rights of Nature