Success Story Archives

Nov 30, 2022

Cleveland State trustees vote unanimously to strip John Marshall’s name from the college of law

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 Story

Aug 24, 2021

Conversation: United Church of Christ Becomes First Mainline Church Body to Declare Earth has Rights

The General Synod of the United Church of Christ has become the first mainline Protestant body to publicly proclaim that nature has rights.

Feb 28, 2021

Introducing CELDF 2021: A New Year, A New Structure

A new democratic structure will empower collaboration and expansion CELDF just celebrated its 25th birthday. Now, we’re investing in the next 25 years. For decades, our staff have spearheaded issues few others would touch. CELDF was years ahead of the curve on Rights of Nature and a structural demand for local community self-determination to counteract… Read more »

Read More | Blogs, Democratic Rights, News, Success Story

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.

Mar 6, 2020

The Indiana Gazette: Court sides with Grant Township on injection well

As the Pennsylvania DEP attempts to block Grant Township’s defense of their ban on fracking injection wells, the court rules that the case can move forward. Grant argues they have the right to local governing authority to protect against corporate harm.

Dec 17, 2019

Sierra: Nevertheless, they persisted

The epic story of Grant Township, Pennsylvania, fighting for their community’s water in the face of PGE’s proposed fracking wastewater injection well.

Nov 25, 2019

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.

Oct 10, 2019

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.

Oct 8, 2019

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.

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 19, 2019

Blog: We Stand With the Youth Climate Strike

CELDF stands with Youth Climate Strike as they demand systemic change, including legal Rights of Nature.

Read More | Press Releases & Blogs, Success Story

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.

Aug 20, 2019

Mongabay: Philippine bill seeks to grant nature the same legal rights as humans

CELDF is partnering with a coalition of Philippine activists, attorneys, and organizations to advance Rights of Nature protections in law.

Aug 18, 2019

Vox: This country gave all its rivers their own legal rights

Rights of Nature is gaining traction in the U.S. and around the world – the beginning of a paradigm shift. Here’s what it looks like on the ground.

Aug 16, 2019

Florida Politics: Can rivers have rights? Orange County, others, mulling the question

The Rights of Nature is taking root in Florida, as counties begin working with CELDF to protect water ecosystems from relentless corporate harms.

Aug 12, 2019

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.

Aug 3, 2019

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.'”

Jul 31, 2019

Reuters: That river has rights: new strategy to protect planet

Recognizing legal rights of ecosystems is a growing movement gaining momentum around the world.

Jul 17, 2019

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?!

Jul 10, 2019

Mother Jones: A New Wave of Environmentalists Want to Give Nature Legal Rights

Read More | News from the Grassroots, Success Story

Jun 27, 2019

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

The Blade: Activists seeking court order to protect Lake Erie Bill of Rights

Toledoans file lawsuit to affirm their Lake Erie Bill of Rights and as part of the growing movement for Rights of Nature.

Jun 26, 2019

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 5, 2019

Nightingale Initiative for Global Health: Protecting Mother Nature

A Toledo woman’s journey to discover and join the Rights of Nature movement, protecting her daughter, community, and the rights of Lake Erie.

Jun 5, 2019

Common Dreams, Inc. : How to Arm Nature Against Corporate Profiteers

Jim Hightower, national radio commentator, author, and public speaker, points to the Rights of Nature movement as a grassroots effort to protect the biosphere and challenge corporate rule.

May 29, 2019

Jefferson Public Radio: Yuroks Grant Rights To The Klamath River

The Yurok Tribal Council adopts law recognizing the rights of the Klamath River, which is central to the culture and life of the Yurok.

May 23, 2019

Salud America: Toledo Mom Fights for Clean Drinking Water for Her Own, All Children

The story of one Toledo mom and her taking action to protect her children, her community, and the Great Lake Erie through Community Rights and Rights of Nature.

Apr 27, 2019

ANI News: Ecuador native community defeats government in court, gets oil exploration banned

Oil corporations were forced to back off native lands in Ecuador. A court decision held that their actions were “inadequate and violated the ‘community’s right to self-determination.'”

Apr 24, 2019

National Geographic: A Voice for Nature

More than just recognizing legal rights, the growing Rights of Nature movement is a paradigm shift in the relationship between human beings and nature.

Read More | News from the Grassroots, Success Story

Apr 22, 2019

The Blade: Watch: Lake Erie activist addresses the United Nations

Community Rights leader Markie Miller, from Toledo, Ohio, speaks to the UN General Assembly. She was invited to talk about the Lake Erie Bill of Rights, an historic law adopted by Toledoans in February.

Apr 3, 2019

The Blade: United Nations invites Lake Erie activists to speak about bill of rights

Community members from Toledo, Ohio, are invited to the United Nations this month to speak about the Lake Erie Bill of Rights adopted by citizens in February.

Mar 17, 2019

Media Release: 2nd Right to a Healthy Climate Law Adopted in New Hampshire

Nottingham, New Hampshire, residents adopt the second right to healthy climate law in the state at Town Meeting.

Mar 13, 2019

Media Release: First Right to Climate Law Adopted in New Hampshire

Yesterday, Exeter, New Hampshire, residents adopted their Right to a Healthy Climate Ordinance at Town Meeting. This is the first right-based climate law in the state.

Mar 12, 2019

Thom Hartmann Program: Lake Erie Getting Personhood Rights. What?

Thom Hartmann interviews CELDF’s Ohio organizer Tish O’Dell on the Lake Erie Bill of Rights adopted by Toledo residents.

Mar 10, 2019

The London Free Press: What an Ohio city’s bold move to protect Lake Erie tells us

“What we really need to do is look at the (lake) as a whole, as an ecosystem that has inherent rights, that transcends the political parties of the day.”

Mar 1, 2019

Smithsonian Magazine: Toledo, Ohio, Just Granted Lake Erie the Same Legal Rights as People

“We’ve been using the same laws for decades to try and protect Lake Erie. They’re clearly not working.” Thus, Toledo, Ohio, community members recognized the rights of Lake Erie via the ballot.

Feb 28, 2019

The Telegraph: US lake wins its own ‘human rights’ in landmark ruling

Lake Erie joins growing numbers of ecosystems around the world where people and governments are recognizing their rights to exist, flourish, and evolve.

Feb 27, 2019

The Progressive: Toledo Residents Vote to Recognize Personhood for Lake Erie

Lake Erie now has legally-enforceable rights, with the overwhelming majority of Toledo, Ohio, residents voting in support of their Lake Erie Bill of Rights citizen initiative.

Feb 27, 2019

Vox: Lake Erie just won the same legal rights as people

A groundbreaking election in Toledo, Ohio, puts this midwestern city on the map – voters recognized the rights of Lake Erie and can take legal action to protect it.

Feb 27, 2019

Rights of Lake Erie Recognized in Historic Vote

Lake Erie Bill of Rights is enacted by the people of Toledo, Ohio!

Read More | Community Wires, Success Story

Feb 26, 2019

Vox: Ohio voters are about to decide if Lake Erie has legal rights

Today, Toledo, Ohio, residents are voting on recognizing the rights of Lake Erie to exist and flourish – the next step in a changing landscape where the rights of ecosystems are expanding globally.

Feb 26, 2019

WTOL11: Lake Erie Bill of Rights passes in Toledo special election

After 21/2 years working to place their Lake Erie Bill of Rights on the ballot, Toledo, Ohio, residents celebrate victory for the Great Lake.

Feb 26, 2019

Breaking News: Toledo Voters Enact Lake Erie Bill of Rights

An historic vote by the people of Toledo, Ohio, marks the first time in the U.S. that the rights of an entire ecosystem are secured in law.

Feb 25, 2019

Mother Jones: Holy, Toledo! This Ohio City Is Voting to Give Legal Rights to a Lake

After decades of failed regulations to “protect” Lake Erie and several years of record-breaking algae blooms, Toledo, Ohio, residents prepare to vote on the Lake Erie Bill of Rights.

Feb 21, 2019

CNN: An Ohio city will vote on whether Lake Erie has the same rights as a person

Government representatives, acting on behalf of industry, have failed to protect Lake Erie. Toledo, Ohio, residents advance a Lake Erie Bill of Rights ballot measure to protect the Lake, their water, and their community. They vote next Tuesday.

Feb 19, 2019

The Guardian: Fighting pollution: Toledo residents want personhood status for Lake Erie

While elected officials do nothing substantive to protect Lake Erie, Toledo residents follow in the footsteps of indigenous and other communities, voting next week on a groundbreaking citizen initiative to recognize the rights of the Great Lake.

Feb 18, 2019

New York Times: Legal Rights for Lake Erie? Voters in Ohio City Will Decide

As the well-being of Lake Erie deteriorates, Toledoans are taking action, voting next week on a Lake Erie Bill of Rights citizen initiative. This is part of a growing strategy to recognize the Rights of Nature.

Feb 9, 2019

StarTribune: Minnesota tribe asks: Can wild rice have its own legal rights?

Traditional indigenous legal principles view nature and people as part of a whole. Today, the White Earth Band of Ojibwe is part of a growing movement to recognize these principles in modern law.

Feb 8, 2019

The Rights of Wild Rice

The Rights of Nature is growing. Now, a Chippewa tribe recognizes, in law, what they have known and respected for generations: manoomin has the right to exist and flourish.

Press Release: White Earth Band Enacts First-of-its-Kind Rights of Nature Law

CELDF assisted Honor the Earth to develop the first Rights of Nature law to protect a plant species, which was adopted by the White Earth Band of Ojibwe.

Book: ‘Death by Democracy’

CELDF's Proposed Rights of Nature Principles

2023 Year-end Newsletter: Living with Nature

Cleveland State trustees vote unanimously to strip John Marshall’s name from the college of law

Conversation: United Church of Christ Becomes First Mainline Church Body to Declare Earth has Rights

Introducing CELDF 2021: A New Year, A New Structure

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

The Indiana Gazette: Court sides with Grant Township on injection well

Sierra: Nevertheless, they persisted

Media Release: First Rights of Nature legislation introduced in Australia

Media Statement: Constitutional Amendment Introduced in Pennsylvania

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

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

Blog: We Stand With the Youth Climate Strike

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

Mongabay: Philippine bill seeks to grant nature the same legal rights as humans

Vox: This country gave all its rivers their own legal rights

Florida Politics: Can rivers have rights? Orange County, others, mulling the question

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

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

Reuters: That river has rights: new strategy to protect planet

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

Mother Jones: A New Wave of Environmentalists Want to Give Nature Legal Rights

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

The Blade: Activists seeking court order to protect Lake Erie Bill of Rights

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

Nightingale Initiative for Global Health: Protecting ​Mother Nature

Common Dreams, Inc. : How to Arm Nature Against Corporate Profiteers

Jefferson Public Radio: Yuroks Grant Rights To The Klamath River

Salud America: Toledo Mom Fights for Clean Drinking Water for Her Own, All Children

ANI News: Ecuador native community defeats government in court, gets oil exploration banned

National Geographic: A Voice for Nature

The Blade: Watch: Lake Erie activist addresses the United Nations

The Blade: United Nations invites Lake Erie activists to speak about bill of rights

Media Release: 2nd Right to a Healthy Climate Law Adopted in New Hampshire

Media Release: First Right to Climate Law Adopted in New Hampshire

Thom Hartmann Program: Lake Erie Getting Personhood Rights. What?

The London Free Press: What an Ohio city’s bold move to protect Lake Erie tells us

Smithsonian Magazine: Toledo, Ohio, Just Granted Lake Erie the Same Legal Rights as People

The Telegraph: US lake wins its own ‘human rights’ in landmark ruling

The Progressive: Toledo Residents Vote to Recognize Personhood for Lake Erie

Vox: Lake Erie just won the same legal rights as people

Rights of Lake Erie Recognized in Historic Vote

Vox: Ohio voters are about to decide if Lake Erie has legal rights

WTOL11: Lake Erie Bill of Rights passes in Toledo special election

Breaking News: Toledo Voters Enact Lake Erie Bill of Rights

Mother Jones: Holy, Toledo! This Ohio City Is Voting to Give Legal Rights to a Lake

CNN: An Ohio city will vote on whether Lake Erie has the same rights as a person

The Guardian: Fighting pollution: Toledo residents want personhood status for Lake Erie

New York Times: Legal Rights for Lake Erie? Voters in Ohio City Will Decide

StarTribune: Minnesota tribe asks: Can wild rice have its own legal rights?

The Rights of Wild Rice

Press Release: White Earth Band Enacts First-of-its-Kind Rights of Nature Law

Support just, fair, and sustainable communities

Nightingale Initiative for Global Health: Protecting Mother Nature