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Nov 20, 2024

CELDF’s 2024 “Vote for the People!” Update Report

CELDF’s 2024 “Vote for the People!” Update Report

Summer is fading away. School is back in full swing. Electoral politics are in full volume. And, 2024 is fast approaching its end. CELDF’s 2024 “Vote for the People!” Update Report is meant to be a reminder of what it will take for deep systems change, who the real change-makers are, and the value and effectiveness that… Read more »

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Nov 6, 2024

Order Your Copy Today of CELDF’s New Publication – Wouldn’t You Say?

Order Your Copy Today of CELDF’s New Publication – Wouldn’t You Say?

The essays in Wouldn’t You Say? ask challenging questions about modern society, our relationship to each other, and to the natural world. Order Your Copy Today!

Read More | News from the Grassroots, Publications

Dec 8, 2023

Reckoning with the truth to get in right relationship with the Great Lakes

Reckoning with the truth to get in right relationship with the Great Lakes

Law and culture. Culture and law. Which comes first, and how are they related? CELDF and partners hosted Truth, Reckoning, and Right Relationship with the Great Lakes in the fall of 2023 to wrestle with these questions. This impactful compilation video of that full-day gathering reflects a range of truths from doctors, lawyers, indigenous activists,… Read more »

Read More | Events, Multimedia

Dec 4, 2023

2023 Year-end Newsletter: Living with Nature

2023 Year-end Newsletter: Living with Nature

FREE Gifts with tax-deductible year-end donations of $100 or more.

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Nov 6, 2023

CELDF is seeking a Donor Relations Coordinator | Job Opening

CELDF is seeking a Donor Relations Coordinator | Job Opening

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, Resources

Sep 18, 2023

Industrial Society Needs Cultural Transformation to Embrace Rights of Nature

Industrial Society Needs Cultural Transformation to Embrace Rights of Nature

That Begins with the Stories we Tell . . . CELDF’s Education Director, Ben G. Price, is a pioneer in establishing the legal Rights of Nature. He organized the first community on Earth to enact a Rights of Nature law (Tamaqua, PA, 2006). In 2019 he shared what he had learned from nearly two decades… Read more »

Read More | Publications, Rights of Nature

Mar 15, 2023

Watch the video: “Water is Us”

Watch the video: “Water is Us”

“Water Is Us” was moderated by ORCRN’s board member and CELDF organizer Kai Huschke. Joining him was: On February 22nd the ORCRN’s Webinar Wednesday meandered through a variety of water topics, from current conditions of water access and water quality to how the law sees water, to the growth of rights of nature to protect and preserve water, to… Read more »

Read More | Community Rights, Events, Extraction & Pollution, Multimedia, Resource Links, Rights of Nature, Water Privitization

Feb 7, 2023

CELDF is seeking a Grant Writer | Job Opening

CELDF is seeking a Grant Writer | Job Opening

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, Resources

Nov 28, 2022

Newsletter: Susquehanna, Vol. 25, Issue 3

Newsletter: Susquehanna, Vol. 25, Issue 3

If you are interested in receiving our newsletter, the Susquehanna – either electronically or by mail – sign up here. Thank you! READ OUR NEWSLETTER and 2022 YEAR-END APPEAL

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Sep 15, 2022

CELDF’s Proposed Rights of Nature Principles

CELDF’s Proposed Rights of Nature Principles

A new system of law based on respect for Nature and the obligations we share as collaborators with life-supporting ecosystems must be institutionalized, recognizing Nature as a unique legal entity and rights holder.

Read More | Issues, News, Resources, Rights of Nature

Jul 8, 2022

“Putting the rights of nature on the map. A quantitative analysis of rights of nature initiatives across the world.”

“Putting the rights of nature on the map. A quantitative analysis of rights of nature initiatives across the world.”

The Rights of Nature (RoN) promote a new understanding of the human
environment, where natural entities are conceived as subjects with intrinsic value independent of human interests. The implementation of this idea
gained momentum in the United States in 2006. One decade and a half later, the idea has spread all over the world.

Read More | News, Resources, Rights of Nature

Jul 5, 2022

Available Now: English Translation & Webinar of the Landmark Decision in Ecuador to Protect Los Cedros Forest over Mining Profits

Available Now: English Translation & Webinar of the Landmark Decision in Ecuador to Protect Los Cedros Forest over Mining Profits

We at CELDF were excited to be able to read the full decision of the Constitutional Court of Ecuador upholding the rights of the Los Cedros Forest over a mining project and we are sharing that decision with you in both English and Spanish. We want to thank the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature… Read more »

Read More | News, Resources, Rights of Nature

Apr 11, 2022

DAMAGES Podcast: The Backlash

DAMAGES Podcast: The Backlash

Episode DescriptionIn 2019, after a decade-long campaign, voters in Toledo Ohio voted to approve the Lake Erie Bill of Rights, effectively giving the lake personhood. It drew an incredible amount of attention. This wasn’t San Francisco hippies or Brooklyn hipsters talking about rights of nature, this was middle-aged moms in the Rust Belt, and that… Read more »

Read More | Multimedia, News, Resources, Rights of Nature

Mar 22, 2022

Podcast with GrassRoot Ohio: Death by Democracy- Episode 2 – w/ Tish O’Dell

Podcast with GrassRoot Ohio: Death by Democracy- Episode 2 – w/ Tish O’Dell

Carolyn Harding with Tish O’Dell, a powerful voice for justice in Ohio, the US, and Globally. Tish has been a Community Organizer for CELDF (Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund) since 2012 assisting residents to organize rights-based initiatives in their communities in order to help them “make real” the just and sustainable communities they envision for… Read more »

Read More | Community Rights, Democratic Rights, Issues, News, News from the Grassroots, Publications, Resources

Jan 13, 2022

Book: ‘Death by Democracy’

Book: ‘Death by Democracy’

Protecting Water and Life: Frontline Stories from Ohioans fighting corporate and state power This book features frontline stories from a movement fighting corporate and state power in Ohio. Edited by Tish O’Dell and Simon Davis-Cohen. For over eight years, organizers with the Ohio Community Rights Network (OHCRN) have worked hard with CELDF to propose and… Read more »

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Dec 30, 2021

Los Cedros Ecuador Decision (En Español)

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.

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Dec 20, 2021

Susquehanna, Vol. 24, Issue 3

Susquehanna, Vol. 24, Issue 3

Our newsletter, the Susquehanna, comes out 2 – 3 times annually.  If you are interested in receiving the newsletter – either electronically or by mail – sign up here.

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Nov 11, 2021

BOOK: One-Block Revolution

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.

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Nov 10, 2021

Municipalism’s Escape from the Colonizing Imperatives of Empire in the U.S.

Municipalism’s Escape from the Colonizing Imperatives of Empire in the U.S.

CELDF’s Ben Price presented a paper to the conference on the synergistic relationship between municipal activism CELDF has worked on in the United States and the broader internationalist Global Municipalist Movement.

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Nov 1, 2021

Legal Self Defense

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

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 3, 2021

New Publication Explores Transformation of New Hampshire’s Form of Government

New Publication Explores Transformation of New Hampshire’s Form of Government

To advance political education in the Granite State, the New Hampshire Community Rights Network (NHCRN) has compiled an in-depth booklet to explore a transformation of New Hampshire’s form of government.

Read More | Publications, Resources

Aug 16, 2021

Susquehanna, Vol. 24, Issue 2

Susquehanna, Vol. 24, Issue 2

Our newsletter, the Susquehanna, comes out 2 – 3 times annually.  If you are interested in receiving the newsletter – either electronically or by mail – sign up here.

Read More | Newsletters, Resources

May 17, 2021

Susquehanna, Vol. 24, Issue 1

Susquehanna, Vol. 24, Issue 1

Our newsletter, the Susquehanna, comes out 2 – 3 times annually.  If you are interested in receiving the newsletter – either electronically or by mail – sign up here.

Read More | Newsletters

Apr 6, 2021

Common Sense – New Edition!

Common Sense – New Edition!

Trying to protect your community from environmental harms such as fracking, or social justice harms, such as unfair elections? Check out Common Sense.

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Feb 1, 2021

New Book! ‘The World We Need: Highlights, Stories and Lessons From America’s Unsung Environmental Movement’

New Book! ‘The World We Need: Highlights, Stories and Lessons From America’s Unsung Environmental Movement’

The World We Need offers a vivid look at the people protecting America’s communities against environmental degradation and racism. Their strategies for saving lives, protecting land, and creating opportunities provide a model for activists everywhere.

Read More | Community Rights, Democratic Rights, News, News from the Grassroots, Press Releases, Resources

Dec 1, 2020

A New Phase

A New Phase

The Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund
was founded as a conventional environmental law firm
(phase one). As it discovered how regulatory law is
fixed to disempower people, communities and ecosystems, it pivoted—towards “rights based” law making.

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Oct 28, 2020

Times of System Change

Times of System Change

Protests are shifting the conditions of political action. Immediate structural change may be difficult to see – but it’s happening – culture is shifting. A dedicated and defiant movement is emerging and challenging the purpose of the law.

Read More | Blogs, Newsletters, Press Releases & Blogs

Sep 1, 2020

Observing Revolution

Observing Revolution

In the midst of historic Black Lives Matter uprisings, critics say: “but what is it really accomplishing?” not
realizing that the protests are shifting the conditions of political action itself. Indeed, when movements are so
structural—as to seek transformations of “public safety” and self-governance—it may be hard to observe their
immediate impact.

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Jun 9, 2020

CELDF REPORT: Corporations Are Suing Cities Across the USA

CELDF REPORT: 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 | Blogs, News, Publications, Resources

Mar 1, 2020

Living in the COVID Era

Living in the COVID Era

Since a national emergency was called in the United States in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, corporate interests—and politicians doing their bidding—have engaged in aggressive
action to save the status quo. They want nothing more than to return to “normal.”

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Feb 5, 2020

VIDEO: ‘The Transformation from Reformist to Revolutionary’

VIDEO: ‘The Transformation from Reformist to Revolutionary’

This 6 minute short explains how, across numerous social issues—from housing, worker rights, environmental protection to gentrification—“the people in the community lack the legal authority to determine their own future, a basic tenet of democracy.”

Read More | Blogs, Community Rights, Multimedia, News from the Grassroots, Resource Links, Resources

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

Sep 1, 2019

Susquehanna, Vol. 22, Issue 1

Susquehanna, Vol. 22, Issue 1

CELDF, our partner communities, and allies made remarkable advancements
in Community Rights and Rights of Nature this year. Together—despite corporate and state level efforts to stop this work—we made history.

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May 30, 2019

How Wealth Rules the world

How Wealth Rules the world

CELDFs national organizing director, Ben Price, reveals that our constitution and legal system were intentionally designed to give more rights to the wealthy propertied class than the rest of us.

Read More | Publications

Sep 1, 2018

Susquehanna, Vol. 21, Issue 2

Susquehanna, Vol. 21, Issue 2

As the busiest year ever for the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund
comes to a close, here’s how Alternet recently described our work: “It’s about the community having the right to protect themselves from
legalized harm…it’s about communities passing laws to create a society
you want your children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren to
live in.”

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Mar 3, 2018

Rebelling Against the Corporate State

Rebelling Against the Corporate State

Our popular Community Rights Papers were printed between 2014 – 2017 and re-frame contemporary and historical events through a Community Rights lens.

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Mar 1, 2018

Susquehanna, Vol. 21, Issue 1

Susquehanna, Vol. 21, Issue 1

It all started, as most of these things do, with a company’s application for a permit.
In May of 2013, Pennsylvania General Energy (PGE) applied for a permit from
the Environmental Protection Agency to convert one of its gas extraction wells in
Grant Township, Indiana County, PA, into an injection well.

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Sep 1, 2017

Susquehanna, Vol. 20, Issue 2

Susquehanna, Vol. 20, Issue 2

It’s not every day that a public interest law firm and the communities it serves
begin a movement! But what began over twenty years ago as an effort to help
communities enforce the nation’s environmental laws, has now fully evolved into
a resistance movement focused on driving rights for local self-determination and
nature into the highest levels of law.

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Mar 1, 2017

Susquehanna, Vol. 20, Issue 1

Susquehanna, Vol. 20, Issue 1

CELDF filed a first-of-its-kind lawsuit in federal district court in Spokane, WA,
on January 31st. The lawsuit contends that the rail transportation of coal and oil
through the City violates the right of the people of Spokane to a livable climate.

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Sep 1, 2016

Susquehanna, Vol. 19, Issue 3

Susquehanna, Vol. 19, Issue 3

What an amazing year! Working with CELDF, the people of Grant and Highland
Township in rural Pennsylvania became the first communities in the nation to
draft and adopt home rule charters that enshrine local bills of rights.

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Jun 1, 2016

Susquehanna, Vol. 19, Issue 2

Susquehanna, Vol. 19, Issue 2

Nearly 13,000 signatures were submitted in five counties to place rights-based
initiatives on the November ballot. The measures ban shale gas drilling, fracking,
pipelines, and frack wastewater injection wells.

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Mar 1, 2016

Susquehanna, Vol. 19, Issue 1

Susquehanna, Vol. 19, Issue 1

At Town Meeting in March, Barnstead, NH, adopted the first-in-the-nation law
protecting residents from political and civil persecution based on their religious
beliefs. The Community Bill of Rights law establishes the right to be free from
religious identification requirements.

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Nov 1, 2015

Susquehanna, Vol. 18, Issue 2

Susquehanna, Vol. 18, Issue 2

The Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund turned
twenty years old this month! Launched by two people in November 1995 in a small, rural township in Pennsylvania,
CELDF has grown into ten staff, a dozen attorneys, and countless volunteers working in ten states.

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Jul 4, 2015

On Community Civil Disobedience in the Name of Sustainability

On Community Civil Disobedience in the Name of Sustainability

Our existing system of law is aimed at constant growth, development, and extraction – and conventional environmental advocacy works around the edges of this system, rather than takes it on directly.

Read More | Publications