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A new system of law based on respect for Nature and the…
Issues, News, Resources, Rights of Nature
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Newsletters
Dec 11, 2024
We hope you enjoy the articles, factoids, features, and spotlights of the people who make CELDF the powerhouse that it is through our 2024 End-of-Year Newsletter.
Read More | Newsletters, ResourcesNov 20, 2024
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 »
Read More | NewslettersNov 6, 2024
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, PublicationsSep 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 28, 2024
On May 20, 2024, Rockland Sierra Club, Lower Hudson Group and ROAR (Religious Orders Along the River) hosted this conversation titled: SHOULD RIVERS AND TREES HAVE LEGAL RIGHTS? A new movement is growing around the rights of nature, arguing that rivers, lakes, and forests should have legal rights for themselves, not for their value to… Read more »
Read More | Events, 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 NatureApr 29, 2024
Book cover design by Sabrina Bedford, cover photo by Julie Dermansky Thursday, May 16 from 2-3:30 pm at moCa Cleveland in Cleveland, OH CELDF and moCa Cleveland invite you to this Cleveland stop on author and journalist Justin Nobel’s Book Tour of his just-published book Petroleum-238 on the dangers to all of us and nature from the… Read more »
Read More | Events, 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 NatureJan 16, 2024
The “Exist, Flourish, Evolve” art show will be held at The Cleveland Museum of Contemporary Art and will focus on Rights of Nature and the Great Lakes in particular.
Read More | Events, Rights of NatureDec 8, 2023
THANK YOU for being part of CELDF’s work for People and Nature.
Read More | Multimedia, Newsletters, ResourcesDec 8, 2023
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, MultimediaDec 4, 2023
FREE Gifts with tax-deductible year-end donations of $100 or more.
Read More | NewslettersNov 29, 2023
Your efforts to be resilient and resist a system that wants to dominate Nature are critical to the changes we need.
Read More | 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, ResourcesOct 25, 2023
On October 16, 2023 CELDF hosted Part 1 of Truth, Reckoning & Right Relationship for the Great Lakes, Nature, and each other at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. Set on the shoreline of Lake Erie, over 70 invited guests were witness to Part 1: Truth and Reckoning of a two-part… Read more »
Read More | Events, Rights of NatureOct 12, 2023
In 2017 voters of Lincoln County adopted a community rights law banning aerial spray of pesticides by the corporate timber industry. CELDF was involved in assisting in the drafting of the law along with supporting the effort to get it adopted. In 2019 the courts, at the behest of the timber industry, overturned that law leaving public health and… Read more »
Read More | Chemical Trespass, Community Rights, Democratic Rights, Events, Extraction & Pollution, Rights of NatureSep 18, 2023
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 NatureSep 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 NatureAug 16, 2023
CELDF’s Executive Director Kai Huschke will be on “Corporations and Democracy”, a program of public radio station KZYX. He will be discussing the growing attacks on the citizen initiatives process, the expanse of corporate power in our everyday lives, and CELDF’s upcoming California talks – American Delusion. Catch the interview live at 7pm PDT on KZYX. ** If you didn’t catch… Read more »
Read More | EventsAug 2, 2023
“In our history, humans were owned at one point. That is the position Nature is currently in.”
Read More | 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 13, 2023
August 9-13, 2023 in Wheelock, VT On August 10th, CELDF’s Michelle Sanborn will be presenting at the New Moon Mycology Summit on the Rights of Nature. The New Moon Mycology Summit is a gathering for communal learning around environmental + social justice through the lens of fungi. With 50+ presenters from various fields, this multi-day outdoor… Read more »
Read More | EventsJul 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 NatureJul 3, 2023
July 19, 2023, UAW Region 2B Leadership Institute at the Walter and May Reuther UAW Family Education Center in Onaway, Michigan On July 19, 2023, CELDF’s Tish O’Dell will be presenting at the UAW Region 2B Leadership Institute at the Walter and May Reuther UAW Family Education Center in Onaway, Michigan. The goal of this conference is to… Read more »
Read More | Community Rights, Democratic Rights, Events, Worker ExploitationJun 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 3, 2023
CELDF’s Tish O’Dell will be present at this free public event as part of the community programming for the exhibition Everlasting Plastics, curated by the Cleveland gallery SPACES for the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennial.
Read More | EventsMay 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 Grassroots
