Search Results for: rights of nature

Mar 4, 2020

Press Release: Grant Township Injection Well Ban Stands, Court Denies ‘Collateral Attack’ from DEP

A decision fro a judge in Grant Township argues that local governing authority is necessary to protect the community’s constitutional rights in the face of harmful state oil and gas policies.

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Jan 27, 2020

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 19, 2020

The Blade: Lake Erie’s fate

The Lake Erie Bill of Rights is part of a growing movement, and people are joining. What will the courts do?

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Dec 19, 2019

Susquehanna: 2019: A Historic Year, and We Are Just Getting Started

2019 has been a remarkable year for CELDF and our partner communities. Check out what we are celebrating!

Read More | News from the Grassroots, Press Releases & Blogs

Nov 11, 2019

Media Statement: Settlement Announced with Oil and Gas Industry Seeking Monetary Award: Ban Against Injection Wells Continues

Following settlement of one of the lawsuits against Grant Township, PA, for daring to protect its water from a frack wastewater injection well, the township continues to stand up to the oil and gas industry.

Read More | Community Wires, Press Releases & Blogs

Nov 4, 2019

Press Release: Election 2019: Corporations Are Determining What Gets Voted On

Efforts are growing to not only determine how people vote, but what gets voted on. Your ballot measures are not yours to democratically determine.

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Oct 16, 2019

Press Release: Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Attacks 4-Year-Old Community Water Protection Law

The people’s own Department of Environmental Protection in Pennsylvania sues Grant Township to overturn a democratically enacted Home Rule charter that includes a ban on fracking wastewater injection wells. This was their day in court.

Read More | Community Wires, Press Releases & Blogs

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.

Read More | Community Wires, Press Releases & Blogs, Success Story

Oct 2, 2019

Media Statement: Court Issues Decision on Two Year Aerial Pesticides Ban in Lincoln County, Oregon

Lincoln County, Oregon, community members prepare to appeal judge’s denial of their right to protect themselves from aerial sprayed pesticides.

Read More | Community Wires, Press Releases & Blogs

Aug 22, 2019

Bloomberg Environment: Tif Over Local Control of Aquifer Pours Into Ohio High Court

The Ohio Farm Bureau and corporate agribusiness urge the Ohio Supreme Court to block Williams County voters from casting ballots on the people’s own initiative.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Aug 21, 2019

Press Release: Democracy Challenged in Williams County, Petitioners Appeal to Ohio Supreme Court Again

Williams County, Ohio, residents partner with CELDF to fight for their right to vote in the Ohio Supreme Court.

Read More | Community Wires, Democratic Rights, News, Press Releases

Aug 20, 2019

The Bryan Times Letter to the Editor

A Williams County, Ohio, resident speaks out on protecting the rights of communities and nature through a county charter and voting.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Aug 12, 2019

Bryan Times: Forum: County charter being stonewalled

Williams County, Ohio, residents are working to protect their county’s water source from privatization. Their own government is trying to stop them.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Jul 22, 2019

Press Release: Ballot Access Stymied in Ohio and Washington

The corporate state attempts to strip democratic rights in Ohio and Washington state. CELDF supports communities as together they fight back.

Read More | Community Wires, News, Press Releases

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?!

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

Jun 6, 2019

Media Release: Tacoma, WA, Group Files First Amendment SCOTUS Petition to Protect Local Ballot Access

With CELDF-supported attorneys, Tacoma, WA, residents filed a 1st Amendment petition with the Supreme Court challenging continued denial of ballot access for qualified citizen initiatives.

Read More | Community Wires, News, Press Releases

May 8, 2019

Media Statement: A Human Right to Survive is Born in Denver

“This idea of a real human right to survive in the 21st century … was born – through the determination and commitment of the people who live [in Denver].”

Read More | Community Wires, News, Press Releases

May 8, 2019

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

Apr 16, 2019

Media Statement: Crowdfunding to Defend Lake Erie

The oil and gas industry tried to quash the Lake Erie Bill of Rights at the ballot. The agriculture industry is trying to quash it in court. CELDF is crowdfunding as we represent Lake Erie and Toledo community members to protect the Lake’s rights.

Read More | Community Wires, Press Releases & Blogs

Apr 2, 2019

Media Release: Not an April Fools Joke in Grant Township

GRANT TOWNSHIP, INDIANA COUNTY, PA: On April 1, federal Judge Susan Paradise Baxter issued an order that was not a joke: Grant Township (pop. 741), Baxter declared, owes Pennsylvania General Energy (PGE) over $100,000 in attorney’s fees and costs.

Read More | Community Wires, Press Releases & Blogs

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.

Read More | Community Wires, Press Releases & Blogs, Success Story

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.

Read More | Community Wires, Press Releases & Blogs, Success Story

Oct 3, 2018

Press Release: “Right to Survive” Ballot Measure Petitions Submitted in Denver

Denver, CO, residents advance “Right to Survive” bill of rights for homeless people, turning in petitions for the May 2019 ballot.

Read More | Community Wires, Press Releases & Blogs

Aug 24, 2018

Press Release: Franklin County Board of Elections Denies Residents the Right to Vote

The Franklin County, OH, Board of Elections strips 560,000 Columbus citizens of their right to vote on a rights-based ballot measure to protect the community from fracking waste.

Read More | Community Wires, News, Press Releases

Aug 6, 2018

Press Release: Columbus, OH, City Council Votes to Advance Fossil Fuel Extraction Ban to Ballot

Facing radioactive fracking waste, Columbus, OH, residents qualify a Community Bill of Rights initiative banning fracking activities from within the City. The measure protects rights to clean air, water, and soil.

Read More | Community Wires, Press Releases & Blogs, Success Story

Jul 25, 2018

CELDF is Hiring! New Hamphire General Counsel

Join CELDF in this unique opportunity to advance the emerging Community Rights movement in the United States.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Jul 10, 2018

Press Release: Pennsylvania Township Bans Corporate Industrial Farming

Todd Township, PA, adopts a Community Rights law prohibiting industrial factory farming to protect their community and preserve local farming operations.

Read More | Community Wires, Press Releases & Blogs, Success Story

Jun 20, 2018

Lafayette, CO, Residents Shut Down City Council Meeting

A right to a healthy climate is preserved in Lafayette, CO, as community members overtake a City Council meeting.

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

May 22, 2018

Restructuring Ohio State Government

Ohioans know firsthand that the very legal and governing structures we live under are preventing us from governing ourselves and protecting our communities.

Read More | Uncategorized

May 21, 2018

Press Release: PGE Continues Efforts to Bankrupt Grant Township

PGE continues to harass Grant Township, a small community in rural Pennsylvania, by attempting to force the Township to pay attorney’s fees. Grant residents are protecting their water by fighting PGE’s proposed fracking wastewater injection well.

Read More | Community Wires, Press Releases & Blogs

May 16, 2018

Blog: Dangerous to the 1% – An Informed Public

An uninformed, passive public is easy to for the 1% to lead. We must become knowledgeable – not just about what is happening, but how and why. We must take on difficult questions and challenge the status quo if we are going to create a new way of life.

Read More | Press Releases & Blogs

May 9, 2018

Press Release: The Right to Water Shut Off in Unjust Youngstown Election

It was a questionable election at best for Youngstown, OH, where community members are fighting for their right to clean water in a city that is making it increasingly difficult to even vote on citizen initiatives.

Read More | Community Wires, Press Releases & Blogs

Apr 14, 2018

Blog: The Gun Establishment’s Weapon of Choice

Courageous local officials in ten Florida cities are fighting punishments enacted by the state legislature under an unjust gun law. But it’s the state’s claimed power of preemption that must be challenged.

Read More | Press Releases & Blogs

Mar 27, 2018

Dick McGinn – A Life of Service

CELDF, OHCRN, and Ohio communities grieve the loss of Dick McGinn, and celebrate his life and contributions. He was a passionate leader in growing Community Rights in Ohio.

Read More | Community Wires, Press Releases & Blogs

Mar 19, 2018

Press Release: Mahoning Board of Elections Defies Supreme Court

The Mahoning County, OH, Board of Elections blocks a duly qualified Community Bill of Rights initiative from the ballot in Youngstown. CELDF assists residents to file a lawsuit with the Ohio Supreme Court.

Read More | Press Releases & Blogs

Mar 14, 2018

Blog: The NRA, Gun Violence, and Ceiling Preemption

Communities can’t adopt the gun laws they believe would best protect their health, safety, and welfare. Here’s why – and what communities can do about it.

Read More | Press Releases & Blogs

Feb 5, 2018

Blog: Think Globally, Enact Locally

“Local control” today means seizing our local governments and enacting laws to protect our communities and the future of the planet.

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Jan 29, 2018

Blog: One Final New Year’s Resolution for 2018

Let’s stop lying to each other and stop protesting. Let’s start truth-telling and begin building our communities based on rights. It’s time.

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Jan 21, 2018

Blog: When we fight, we win

Why are attacks from the corporate state escalating against communities who are advancing basic rights and protecting themselves from harm? And what’s next?

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Jan 15, 2018

Blog: Having a Dream is Just the Beginning

Dr. Martin Luther King is remembered for his extraordinary leadership in advancing Civil Rights. Let us not forget, either, how the system he and his followers sought to change, punished them for doing so.

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Jan 5, 2018

Blog: Seceding from Ourselves

Abolitionists urged secession to end the slave state. Explore secession to end the corporate state.

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Nov 13, 2017

Press Release: Coos Bay Estuary Speaks Out Against FERC

Coos Bay Estuary on the coast of Oregon files to intervene in FERC proceedings. Coos Bay is threatened by a massive LNG export terminal and a pipeline.

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Nov 9, 2017

Blog: Capitalism: The Elephant in the Room

Through seizing municipal government, communities are building a bulwark of rights for human and natural communities, working to liberate our communities from capitalism.

Read More | Press Releases & Blogs

Nov 7, 2017

Press Release: Youngstown Residents Circulating Petitions for Water Protection Law

Youngstown, OH, residents make their comeback, gathering signatures on election day for their Community Rights charter amendment protecting their water.

Read More | Community Wires, Press Releases & Blogs

Oct 19, 2017

Press Release: Bowling Green Residents Tip OH Supreme Court in their Favor, Win Fight for Right to Vote

Bowling Green residents declare victory! Their right to vote affirmed in Ohio Supreme Court as the first-in-the-state Right to Climate initiative goes on the November ballot.

Read More | Press Releases & Blogs

Oct 17, 2017

Blog: Pebble Mine: Risen from the Dead

Pebble Mine is moving forward in Alaska. We need a revolution if we have any hope to protect the ecosystems we depend upon.

Read More | Press Releases & Blogs

Oct 10, 2017

Blog: Taking a Knee on the First Amendment

If we take a knee to protest racism in our capacity as employees, our rights under the first amendment are not protected.

Read More | Press Releases & Blogs

Oct 6, 2017

Press Release: Split Decision in Ohio Supreme Court for Youngstown Ballot Initiatives

In a 4-3 decision, the Ohio Supreme Court denies Youngstown residents the right to vote. Residents vow they are not surrendering their rights.

Read More | Press Releases & Blogs

Oct 2, 2017

Press Release: Judge Strikes Portions of Democratically-Enacted Charter Banning Frack Waste

Highland Township, PA, residents plan enforcement of their Home Rule Charter banning a frack wastewater injection well as judiciary sides with Seneca Resources Corporation.

Read More | Community Wires, Press Releases & Blogs

Sep 21, 2017

Press Release: People’s Constitutional Right to Form Charter Government Stricken by Ohio Supreme Court

The Ohio Supreme Court places insurmountable requirements on county charter initiatives. For three years, counties have attempted to protect themselves from fracking through advancing rights-based charter initiatives.

Read More | Community Wires, Press Releases & Blogs