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Dec 11, 2020

Truthout: The American Petroleum Institute Is Working to Kill Voting on Local Measures

Truthout: The American Petroleum Institute Is Working to Kill Voting on Local Measures

Over the past five years, organizers in seven Ohio communities (three cities, four counties) have qualified ballot measures to recognize enforceable rights of ecosystems and human rights to water. All take the historic and bold step of elevating these basic rights above the legal privileges currently enjoyed by private corporations in the United States.

Read More | Community Rights, Corporate 'Rights', Corporate Agriculture, Extraction & Pollution, Issues, News, News from the Grassroots, Rights of Nature

Sep 4, 2020

Democratic Party Must Not Water Down Rights of Nature

Democratic Party Must Not Water Down Rights of Nature

Some leaders within the growing Rights of Nature movement in the United States have offered perspective and the Democratic Party’s actions

Read More | News, Press Releases & Blogs

Sep 3, 2020

Financial Reprisal for Enacting Lake Erie Bill of Rights? Corporate Law Firm Charging Toledoans $207,500

Financial Reprisal for Enacting Lake Erie Bill of Rights? Corporate Law Firm Charging Toledoans $207,500

The international corporate law firm Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP is seeking $207,500 in attorney fees from the City of Toledo for a charter amendment approved by voters.

Read More | News, Press Releases

Aug 27, 2020

COMING SOON: World Premiere of ‘Invisible Hand’

COMING SOON: World Premiere of ‘Invisible Hand’

From Executive Producer Mark Ruffalo comes the world’s first documentary film on the Rights of Nature Movement. Attend the virtual world premiere followed by a panel discussion around the Rights of Nature Movement.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Aug 18, 2020

Rights of Nature with United Church of Christ Pastor

Rights of Nature with United Church of Christ Pastor

The UCC hosts CELDFs Tish O’Dell for a Rights of Nature presentation. Watch the full webinar here!

Read More | News from the Grassroots

Aug 12, 2020

Press Release: Toledo Residents Experiment With Civilian Rights of Nature Enforcement

Press Release: Toledo Residents Experiment With Civilian Rights of Nature Enforcement

Toledo, Ohio residents give oral arguments in Lake Erie Bill of Rights pro se lawsuit to advances one avenue for participatory Rights of Nature enforcement.

Read More | Press Releases & Blogs

Aug 12, 2020

Defending the Rights of Lake Erie

Defending the Rights of Lake Erie

Read the pro se argument defending the Lake Erie Bill of Rights presented by Toledo resident, Mike Ferner, on behalf of Lake Erie and the Toledoans who passed the law.

Read More | Community Wires

Jul 8, 2020

Staying Home with Josh Fox: Preemption and Property Rights

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.

Read More | Community Rights, Corporate 'Rights', Rights of Nature

Jun 11, 2020

Webinar: Expanding Rights-Based Organizing During a Crisis

Webinar: Expanding Rights-Based Organizing During a Crisis

A live Q&A with CELDF organizers on Expanding Rights-Based Organizing During a Crisis.

Read More | Events

May 21, 2020

A Closer Look: Exploring the Rights of Nature on June 3

A Closer Look: Exploring the Rights of Nature on June 3

A Live Q&A Session with CELDF organizers taking a Closer Look at the Rights of Nature.

Read More | Events

Apr 22, 2020

Common Dreams: Abolish Earth Day

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

Mar 17, 2020

Community Stories: Claiming the Law

Community Stories: Claiming the Law

Bryan Twitchell shares a guest blog about the Wet’suwet’en First Nation’s ongoing resistance to the Coastal GasLink pipeline in British Columbia, Canada.

Read More | Blogs, Community Wires, News

Mar 13, 2020

BREAKING: Repressive Tactics Used to Attack Rights of Nature

BREAKING: Repressive Tactics Used to Attack Rights of Nature

Press Release: Corporate plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit against LEBOR show total disregard for global COVID-19 pandemic as they demand $293,750 from the City of Toledo for defending the Lake Erie Bill of Rights.

Read More | News, Press Releases

Feb 28, 2020

Press Release: Judge Refuses to Acknowledge Lake Erie’s Rights

Press Release: Judge Refuses to Acknowledge Lake Erie’s Rights

In Toledo, OH, a federal judge joined a long list of enablers complicit in the destruction of the natural world by invalidating the democratically enacted Lake Erie Bill of Rights charter amendment.

Read More | Community Wires, News, Press Releases

Feb 26, 2020

Breaking the Spell of Misguided Obedience

Breaking the Spell of Misguided Obedience

Toledo organizer Markie Miller drafted this letter to Lake Erie the night before the federal hearing. In honor of this moment in history, we share her letter here.

Read More | Blogs, Community Wires, News

Feb 6, 2020

PRESS RELEASE: LAKE ERIE BILL OF RIGHTS AND RIGHTS OF NATURE ARGUED IN US FEDERAL COURT

PRESS RELEASE: LAKE ERIE BILL OF RIGHTS AND RIGHTS OF NATURE ARGUED IN US FEDERAL COURT

A post-court update of the Lake Erie Bill of Rights. Get an in-depth look at the arguments made in federal court as the Corporate State defends its constitutional right to pollute. The City of Toledo is triumphant in defending Rights of Nature.

Read More | News, Press Releases

Feb 6, 2020

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

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!

Read More | Community Rights, Community Wires, News from the Grassroots, Resource Links, Rights of Nature

Jan 27, 2020

Press Release: Lake Erie’s Day in Court

Press Release: Lake Erie’s Day in Court

Organizations, activists, government officials, and hundreds of others from around the world support the Lake Erie Bill of Rights as oral arguments in federal court are held tomorrow.

Read More | Community Wires, Press Releases & Blogs

Jan 25, 2020

The Blade: More at stake than water with Lake Erie Bill of Rights court decision

The Blade: More at stake than water with Lake Erie Bill of Rights court decision

Can a corporation 40 miles from Toledo interfere with the rights of Toledoans to amend their charter and protect Lake Erie?

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Jan 21, 2020

Lake Erie Bill of Rights Heads to Federal Court

Lake Erie Bill of Rights Heads to Federal Court

Oral arguments in the federal case brought by a corporation to overturn the Lake Erie Bill of Rights are coming up. The world stands with Toledoans.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Jan 19, 2020

NBC 24News: Toledoans For Safe Water screen “Invisible Hand” ahead of the state’s lawsuit against city

NBC 24News: Toledoans For Safe Water screen “Invisible Hand” ahead of the state’s lawsuit against city

Toledoans grow support for the Lake Erie Bill of Rights as their day in court approaches.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Dec 10, 2019

Guest Blog: A Conversation with The Guardian

Guest Blog: A Conversation with The Guardian

LEBOR activists exchanged views with The Guardian on Rights of Nature and human rights. Here, they make clear the need to recognize that it is not nature’s rights vs human rights, but those combined against corporate claimed rights.

Read More | Community Wires, Press Releases & Blogs

Oct 14, 2019

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

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 1, 2019

The Blade: Lake Fed Up

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

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.

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

Sep 14, 2019

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

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

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

My Plainview: How giving legal rights to nature could help reduce toxic algae blooms in Lake Erie

My Plainview: How giving legal rights to nature could help reduce toxic algae blooms in Lake Erie

An analysis of Rights of Nature laws as a path forward to protecting ecosystems in the face of continuing environmental harms.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Sep 10, 2019

The Toledo Blade: Back off ballot-measure limits

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

Aug 30, 2019

The Press: Emails show: Chamber of Commerce pushed to undercut Lake Erie Bill of Rights

The Press: Emails show: Chamber of Commerce pushed to undercut Lake Erie Bill of Rights

Industry worked with Ohio legislators to insert language in the Ohio budget bill, attempting to make it illegal to enforce laws that recognize Rights of Nature.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Aug 29, 2019

Media Release: EXPOSED: Chamber of Commerce Wrote Ohio Law Banning Rights of Nature Enforcement

Media Release: EXPOSED: Chamber of Commerce Wrote Ohio Law Banning Rights of Nature Enforcement

Investigation by Ohio citizens finds the Ohio Chamber of Commerce drafted Ohio legislation language to stop Rights of Nature enforcement.

Read More | Community Wires, News, Press Releases

Aug 19, 2019

TSW Media Release: Activists Defend Lawsuit Enforcing Lake Erie Bill of Rights, Rights of Toledoans

TSW Media Release: Activists Defend Lawsuit Enforcing Lake Erie Bill of Rights, Rights of Toledoans

Toledo residents file pro se lawsuit defending the people’s Lake Erie Bill of Rights.

Read More | Community Wires, News, Press Releases

Aug 13, 2019

Media Statement: Lake Erie Bill of Rights Court Case Heats Up as Algae Bloom Grows

Media Statement: Lake Erie Bill of Rights Court Case Heats Up as Algae Bloom Grows

The City of Toledo takes a stand in court to defend the Lake Erie Bill of Rights.

Read More | Community Wires, News, Press Releases

Aug 3, 2019

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

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.'”

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

Jul 22, 2019

Lake Erie Advocates’ Media Statement: Ohio Legislature Attacks Rights of Nature, Protects Polluters in Budget Bill

Lake Erie Advocates’ Media Statement: Ohio Legislature Attacks Rights of Nature, Protects Polluters in Budget Bill

Community groups release joint statement revealing not only the Ohio legislature’s efforts to stop Rights of Nature, but also expanding protections of industrial agricultural operations.

Read More | Community Wires, News, Press Releases

Jul 18, 2019

Media Release: Ohio Legislature Bans Rights of Nature Enforcement

Media Release: Ohio Legislature Bans Rights of Nature Enforcement

While Rights of Nature grows in Ohio, the state legislature tries to ban its enforcement. Undeterred, Ohio communities continue advancing laws to protect ecosystems based on rights.

Read More | Community Wires, News, Press Releases

Jul 17, 2019

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

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?!

Read More | Community Wires, 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

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 7, 2019

E&E News: Ohio pushes court to sink legal rights for Lake Erie

E&E News: Ohio pushes court to sink legal rights for Lake Erie

As Ohioans make strides to advance Rights of Nature, the people’s own state government fights to stop them.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Jun 5, 2019

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

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.

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

May 28, 2019

Press Release: Multi-Prong Attack by State of Ohio Against Rights of Nature

Press Release: Multi-Prong Attack by State of Ohio Against Rights of Nature

Ohio Attorney General files complaint to overturn Lake Erie Bill of Rights on behalf of industry, arguing there is a right to pollute.

Read More | Community Wires, News, Press Releases

May 23, 2019

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

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.

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

May 9, 2019

Media Statement: The First State in U.S. History Has Mentioned Legal Rights of Nature

Media Statement: The First State in U.S. History Has Mentioned Legal Rights of Nature

Today, the Ohio House adopts provisions to block communities and local governments from enforcing recognized legal rights for ecosystems.

Read More | Community Wires, News, Press Releases

May 8, 2019

Media Release: Judge Denies Toledoans and Lake Erie Access to Court

Media Release: Judge Denies Toledoans and Lake Erie Access to Court

As a judge denies Toledoans and Lake Erie intervention to defend the Lake Erie Bill of Rights against an agribusiness lawsuit to overturn it, community members file an appeal.

Read More | Community Wires, News, Press Releases