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Jul 1, 2014

CELDF Statement on New York Fracking Decision

CELDF Statement on New York Fracking Decision

We congratulate the victory in the New York Court of Appeals for banning fracking. We also recognize the Court, rather than affirming communities’ right to local self-governance, instead affirmed the state legislature may at any time remove those bans. Read more here.

Read More | Press Releases & Blogs

Jun 23, 2014

Highland Twp. picnic for clean water held Saturday

Highland Twp. picnic for clean water held Saturday

Highland Township, PA, residents, adopting a Community Rights Ordinance banning fracking injection wells in 2013, receive broad community support on Saturday at an event attended by Pennsylvania and Ohio communities.

Read More | Community Wires

Jun 15, 2014

Daily Kos: New Civil Rights Movement

Daily Kos: New Civil Rights Movement

A diary from occupystephanie draws parallels between Community Rights and other rights’ movements, and describes CELDF’s work with municipalities across the U.S. to leverage those rights to protect ourselves and the natural environment from corporate harms.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Jun 15, 2014

The Bradford Era: Community rights gathering slated in Highland Township

The Bradford Era: Community rights gathering slated in Highland Township

Communities and government representatives from across Elk County, PA, are invited to Highland Township’s community rights picnic gathering on Saturday, 6/21. The gathering will include speakers and community rights workshops.

Read More | Community Wires

Jun 13, 2014

The Bradford Era: Feds knock down Highland Township injection well appeals

The Bradford Era: Feds knock down Highland Township injection well appeals

Highland Township, PA, and CELDF are prepared to defend the Township’s Community Rights Ordinance banning wastewater injection wells as Seneca Resources moves a step closer to attempting to site a well.

Read More | Community Wires

Jun 2, 2014

The Bradford Era: Picnic held in Highland Township to discuss injection well

The Bradford Era: Picnic held in Highland Township to discuss injection well

Highland Township, PA, receives support from surrounding communities at the Residents Fight for Clean Water Picnic held Saturday. Highland residents face a fracking wastewater injection well, and are preparing to enforce their Community Bill of Rights banning the wells.

Read More | Community Wires

Apr 17, 2014

Ridgeway Record: Jay Twp. supports Highland’s injection well ordinance

Ridgeway Record: Jay Twp. supports Highland’s injection well ordinance

Highland Township, PA, receives a letter of support from Jay Township, as Highland stands behind its Community Bill of Rights Ordinance banning fracking wastewater injection wells. Nearby Ridgeway Township sent a letter of support in March.

Read More | Community Wires

Apr 10, 2014

The Bradford Era: Highland Township Supervisors receive support in injection well fight

The Bradford Era: Highland Township Supervisors receive support in injection well fight

Support grows from other municipalities as Highland Township Supervisors stand by their Community Rights Ordinance banning fracking wastewater injection wells. The Township faces opposition from Seneca Resources Corporation.

Read More | Community Wires

Apr 1, 2014

Global Exchange’s People to People Blog: Mendocino County: Charting a new course for water protection?

Global Exchange’s People to People Blog: Mendocino County: Charting a new course for water protection?

Mendocino County, CA, residents work with CELDF’s partner Global Exchange in Community Rights organizing to protect their water. Communities are working on Community Bills of Rights, including a County level Ordinance.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Mar 30, 2014

The Southern Illinoisan: Both sides of fracking debate plan next move

The Southern Illinoisan: Both sides of fracking debate plan next move

Residents in Johnson County, IL, are moving forward with next steps to protect their community from fracking through a Community Bill of Rights Ordinance.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Mar 25, 2014

The Southern Illinoisan: Johnson County Board receives draft ‘bill of rights’

The Southern Illinoisan: Johnson County Board receives draft ‘bill of rights’

Johnson County, IL, residents present a Community Bill of Rights Ordinance to County Commissioners to protect the community from fracking.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Mar 22, 2014

The Bradford Era: Highland Township retains law firm in injection well fight

The Bradford Era: Highland Township retains law firm in injection well fight

CELDF is retained by Highland Township, PA, to defend the Township’s Community Bill of Rights Ordinance banning fracking wastewater injection wells against Seneca Resources Corporation. Seneca wants to site an injection well and has threatened legal action to negate the community’s rights.

Read More | Community Wires

Mar 19, 2014

The Southern: Johnson County fracking ban defeated

The Southern: Johnson County fracking ban defeated

With over $20,000 available to pro-fracking interests to defeat a non-binding referendum in support of a Community Bill of Rights banning fracking, Johnson County residents voted it down. Community Rights supporters promise to move forward.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Mar 19, 2014

Shadow Proof: Illinois Fracking Ban Fails After Local Newspapers Refuse To Accept Ads Supporting It

Shadow Proof: Illinois Fracking Ban Fails After Local Newspapers Refuse To Accept Ads Supporting It

A local media blackout against Community Rights in Johnson County, IL, affects ballot outcome.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Mar 19, 2014

Ridgeway Township, PA, Board of Supervisors writes letter of support

Ridgeway Township, PA, Board of Supervisors writes letter of support

Ridgeway Township, PA, Board of Supervisors writes a letter of support for Highland Township, which is taking a stand against Seneca Resources Corporation’s plans to site a fracking wastewater injection well. The Township adopted a Community Bill of Rights banning injection wells in 2013.

Read More | Community Wires

Mar 18, 2014

Southeast Missouri State University KRCU: Frack Ban Fails In Johnson County, Ill.

Southeast Missouri State University KRCU: Frack Ban Fails In Johnson County, Ill.

Community Rights opponents in Johnson County, IL, claim a hollow victory when a media blackout kept out Community Rights advocates and the state Chamber of Commerce funded $23,000 of propaganda against them.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Mar 14, 2014

State Impact: Elk County township prepares for battle against deep injection well

State Impact: Elk County township prepares for battle against deep injection well

As the EPA approves a wastewater injection well permit in Highland Township, PA, for Seneca Resources, the Township Supervisors, with standing-room-only support from the community, retains CELDF to defend their Community Bill of Rights Ordinance banning injection wells.

Read More | Community Wires

Mar 13, 2014

The Kane Republican: Highland OKs Legal Fights Against Injection Well

The Kane Republican: Highland OKs Legal Fights Against Injection Well

Highland Township Supervisors in Pennsylvania receive overwhelming support from residents to enforce their Community Rights Ordinance banning fracking wastewater injection wells, as Seneca Resources presses forward with a planned well.

Read More | Community Wires

Mar 6, 2014

The Bradford Era: Handful of appeals against Highland Township injection well project

The Bradford Era: Handful of appeals against Highland Township injection well project

Highland Township, PA, prepares to enforce its CELDF-drafted Community Bill of Rights Ordinance banning injection wells against Seneca Resources Corporation.

Read More | Community Wires

Feb 28, 2014

The Bradford Era: Highland Township citizens group joins fray over injection well

The Bradford Era: Highland Township citizens group joins fray over injection well

Highland Township, PA, stands behind its Community Bill of Rights banning injection wells with the support of Township Supervisors, residents, and CELDF, as Seneca Resources vows to fight the rights-based ordinance.

Read More | Community Wires

Feb 28, 2014

The Western Front: Frontline – Support a Community Bill of Rights

The Western Front: Frontline – Support a Community Bill of Rights

Western University students in Bellingham, WA, call on their peers to launch a Community Bill of Rights initiative in Bellingham.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Feb 12, 2014

The Bradford Era: Firm set to offer legal support in Highland Township injection well fight

The Bradford Era: Firm set to offer legal support in Highland Township injection well fight

CELDF affirms it will defend Highland Township, PA’s Community Bill of Rights Ordinance that bans fracking wastewater injection wells against Seneca Resources, which has been issued a permit by the EPA to site an injection well within the township.

Read More | Community Wires

Feb 10, 2014

Daily Kos – Food Fight: Local Media Coverage

Daily Kos – Food Fight: Local Media Coverage

A diary from occupystephanie on Oregon Community Rights and sustainable food systems in the face of hostile state and corporate interests.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Feb 9, 2014

Corvallis Gazette-Times: Food fight turns on local rights

Corvallis Gazette-Times: Food fight turns on local rights

A fight to protect the Willamette Valley, OR, from GM seed reveals itself to be a fight to protect Community Rights to create local, sustainable food systems, and the right to local self-governance.

Read More | Community Wires

Jan 25, 2014

Huffington Post: Colorado Communities Could Ban Fracking Under New Proposed Amendment

Huffington Post: Colorado Communities Could Ban Fracking Under New Proposed Amendment

A proposed amendment to Colorado’s constitution that would give municipalities the power to ban or restrict fracking and other industrial activities would be the first of its kind nationwide if it passes.

Read More | News from the Grassroots

Jan 21, 2014

Press Release: Colorado Community Rights Network Files Constitutional Amendment To Secure the Right to Community Self-Government Free from State Preemption

Press Release: Colorado Community Rights Network Files Constitutional Amendment To Secure the Right to Community Self-Government Free from State Preemption

Denver, Colorado, January 20, 2014 – The Colorado Community Rights Network (COCRN) has submitted to the state for review and comment the language for a Community Rights Constitutional Amendment to be placed on the 2014 ballot.

Read More | News from the Grassroots

Jan 16, 2014

National Catholic Reporter: Nature’s rights gain some legal standing

National Catholic Reporter: Nature’s rights gain some legal standing

At the Global Rights of Nature Summit in Otavalo, Ecuador, CELDF representatives and other organizations gather to call for the advancement of the Rights of Nature to protect the planet.

Read More | News from the Grassroots

Dec 19, 2013

Press Release: Statement on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s Ruling that Parts of Act 13 are Unconstitutional

Press Release: Statement on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s Ruling that Parts of Act 13 are Unconstitutional

“This ruling, while welcome, does not stop fracking of Pennsylvania’s communities, nor does it recognize the right of the people of Pennsylvania to govern their own communities without state or corporate interference.” – Thomas Linzey, Esq., Executive Director

Read More | Community Wires, Press Releases & Blogs

Nov 6, 2013

Press Release: Ohio and Colorado Voters Adopt Community Bills of Rights

Press Release: Ohio and Colorado Voters Adopt Community Bills of Rights

Lafayette, CO, and Oberlin, OH, residents ban fracking as a violation of rights with strong majority wins.

Read More | Community Wires, Press Releases & Blogs

Oct 30, 2013

The Piscataquis Observer: Letter to the Editor – Sangerville a leader in self-governance

The Piscataquis Observer: Letter to the Editor – Sangerville a leader in self-governance

Sangerville, ME, resident stands behind their first-in-the-nation Community Bill of Rights infrastructure ordinance, adopted by residents in September.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Oct 8, 2013

Read the Dirt: When The State Pushes Back

Read the Dirt: When The State Pushes Back

Editor Simon Davis-Cohen interviews CELDF’s Pacific Northwest Community Organizer Kai Huschke about our structure of law and governance that functions to deny communities’ rights when they interfere with corporate “rights,” as seen today in both Washington State and Oregon.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Sep 18, 2013

Press Release: Sangerville, ME, Adopts Community Bill of Rights Ordinance to Reject Transportation & Distribution Corridors

Press Release: Sangerville, ME, Adopts Community Bill of Rights Ordinance to Reject Transportation & Distribution Corridors

Voters in Sangerville, ME, adopt a Community Bill of Rights ordinance to protect their municipality from a private transportation corridor.

Read More | Community Wires, Press Releases & Blogs

Sep 16, 2013

Press Release: Oregon Communities Launch Statewide Network for Community Rights

Press Release: Oregon Communities Launch Statewide Network for Community Rights

On September 12th, community members from eight Oregon counties gathered in Corvallis, Oregon, to launch the Oregon Community Rights Network (ORCRN).

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Aug 30, 2013

The Pacific Northwest Inlander: Judgment Day

The Pacific Northwest Inlander: Judgment Day

Corporate and government interests in Spokane, WA, succeed in blocking citizens’ initiatives that would establish Community Rights.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Aug 21, 2013

The Bradford Era: Earthquakes elicit Elk County opposition to proposed injection well

The Bradford Era: Earthquakes elicit Elk County opposition to proposed injection well

Elk County Commissioners speak out against fracking injection wells.

Read More | Community Wires

Aug 5, 2013

Noozhawk: Fracking and the Rights of Nature

Noozhawk: Fracking and the Rights of Nature

Community Rights and the Rights of Nature are changing our western legal paradigm, and are tools to protect Santa Barbara, CA, from fracking.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Jul 3, 2013

Noozhawk: Protecting Santa Barbara County — Community Rights vs. Corporate Control

Noozhawk: Protecting Santa Barbara County — Community Rights vs. Corporate Control

Wayne Mellinger on Community Rights to protect Santa Barbara from fracking corporate interests.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Jul 2, 2013

Local Lawmaking: A Call for a Community Rights Movement

Local Lawmaking: A Call for a Community Rights Movement

While on their face these issues may appear to be different – ranging from corporate agribusiness to energy extraction – the communities on the receiving end of things all have at least one thing in common: they’ve given up hope that their state or federal government will act to protect them.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Jun 26, 2013

Piscataquis Observer: Sangerville group outlines community bill of rights to halt east-west highway

Piscataquis Observer: Sangerville group outlines community bill of rights to halt east-west highway

East Sangerville, ME, residents and selectmen partner with CELDF to use a Community Bill of Rights to stop a $2.1 billion limited access highway.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Jun 21, 2013

Press Release: Pennsylvania Community Rights Network (PCRN) Seats Founding Board of Directors

Press Release: Pennsylvania Community Rights Network (PCRN) Seats Founding Board of Directors

Declaring that the legitimate foundation of government is the right to local self-governance, the Pennsylvania Community Rights Network reviewed bylaws and officially launched the organization on Monday in Bowmanstown, Carbon County.

Read More | News from the Grassroots

May 19, 2013

Press Release: New Hampshire Community Rights Network Signs the Barnstead Declaration

Press Release: New Hampshire Community Rights Network Signs the Barnstead Declaration

The New Hampshire Community Rights Network signs the Barnstead Declaration, stating their intention to provide education for a statewide call for legislative and constitutional changes recognizing the right to local self-government and the Rights of Nature.

Read More | News from the Grassroots

Apr 29, 2013

Press Release: First County in U.S. Bans Oil and Gas Extraction

Press Release: First County in U.S. Bans Oil and Gas Extraction

Mora County, NM, adopts first-in-the-nation ban on oil and gas extraction, protecting residents and local ecosystems from fracking.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Mar 28, 2013

CELDF Statement: A New Civil Rights Movement: Liberating Our Communities from Corporate Control

CELDF Statement: A New Civil Rights Movement: Liberating Our Communities from Corporate Control

A Pennsylvania Judge Holds That Corporations Are Not “Persons” Under the Pennsylvania Constitution.

Read More | Community Wires, Press Releases & Blogs

Mar 13, 2013

Highland Township Retains Law Firm to Defend Injection Well Ordinance

Highland Township Retains Law Firm to Defend Injection Well Ordinance

Highland Township, PA, Board of Supervisors vote unanimously to retain CELDF to help defend their “Community Rights Protection from Injection Wells Ordinance” against Seneca Resources.

Read More | Community Wires

Feb 6, 2013

Fracking Scare Tactics in Highland

Fracking Scare Tactics in Highland

Update on pending lawsuit in Highland Township, PA, where supervisors recently passed a Community Bill of Rights to ban fracking injection wells – excerpt from The Kane Republican

Read More | Community Wires

Jan 14, 2013

Public Herald: Just Say ‘No’ — Locals Ban Frack Waste in Pa.

Public Herald: Just Say ‘No’ — Locals Ban Frack Waste in Pa.

On January 9, 2013, in otherwise quiet Highland Township in Elk County, Pennsylvania, officials signed a community rights bill into law stopping the deposit of fracking waste within the township. Seneca Resources…had planned to inject its “production fluids” (oil and gas drilling and fracking waste) into an injection well about 2,200 feet from Crystal Springs….Injection wells have a history, both long and recent, of failing ….So, residents of Highland Township asked their municipal officials to say “No.”…Highland Township is the latest on a list of over 140 other communities that have said ‘no’ to factory farms, waste incinerators, corporate water withdrawals, and now fracking by passing rights-based ordinances….Rights-based ordinances are simple but formal, and they’ve been penned with the help of Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF).

Read More | Community Wires

Dec 24, 2012

Read the Dirt: Barnstead, NH: Establishing the Community Right to Water and Self-Governance

Read the Dirt: Barnstead, NH: Establishing the Community Right to Water and Self-Governance

The Barnstead, NH, story – and how other New Hampshire communities have followed the blazing trail set by these bold and steadfast residents.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Nov 6, 2012

Press Release: Broadview Heights Adopts Community Bill of Rights Banning Fracking

Press Release: Broadview Heights Adopts Community Bill of Rights Banning Fracking

Today, the residents of Broadview Heights banned fracking from within the City limits through a Community Bill of Rights Charter Amendment. The amendment established the right to clean air and water, and the right to local self-government, banning fracking as a violation of those rights.

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

Oct 26, 2012

NPR Special Series – The Future of Nonhuman Rights: Recognizing The Right Of Plants To Evolve

NPR Special Series – The Future of Nonhuman Rights: Recognizing The Right Of Plants To Evolve

The rights of plants to exist and evolve is explored as interest grows for recognizing the rights of nature.

Read More | News from the Grassroots