We help communities create & defend their rights.
We assist communities to develop first-in-the-nation, groundbreaking laws for worker rights, houseless rights, democratic rights, and the Rights of Nature. We also provide free and low-cost legal services, grassroots organizing, and education support, to communities and governments facing injustice. Contact us now.
EARTH DAY-ZED AND CONFUSED
essays, poetry, blogs, music, and more by CELDF staff
While people around the world celebrate the planet we’re collectively killing and simultaneously trying to save, CELDF is looking forward and back, contemplating where we’ve been and where, if anywhere, we’re going. Over the upcoming weeks, we’ll share our thoughts, analysis, creativity and retrospectives. Stay in touch and share your thoughts with us…we really are all in this one together.
Blogs
Earth Emancipation Now!
Earth Emancipation Now! Synopsis: The American Empire was built on the model of European colonialism and the enclosure of the Commons. The Federalists, who crafted…
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Blogs
Guest Blog: Community Rights in Buffalo, NY
Systems change doesn’t hinge on electing the right candidate – it’s advanced most forcefully when organized communities engage in direct action.
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News from the Grassroots
Lake Erie is Talking but We Aren’t Listening
Regional environmental leader Tish O’Dell spoke to Cleveland State students about the legal system’s failure…
Read More | Events
Rolling Stone: The Environment Is Under Attack. The Rights of Nature Movement Can Save It
Grant Township’s 2014 Rights of Nature law became the first such piece of legislation to…
Read More | Rights of Nature
“A Bright Spot Amidst the Chaos” – From New York to Minnesota, the Rights of Nature are Growing
Today, April 22nd (Earth Day), advocates for the New York bill have been invited to…
Read More | Press Releases
Salon: Take back the night – Establishing a “right to darkness” could save our night skies
Voluntary standards for light pollution, like voluntary standards for much else where profit and community…
Read More | News
Interview on the Great Lakes and NY State Waters Bill of Rights: Does Nature Have Rights?
This interview was conducted by the Environmental Coffeehouse welcoming Ben Price, CELDF Education Director &…
Read More | Multimedia
Project Censored: Conversations on Environmental Justice, Abolition, and the Future We Build
In the first part of the program, author and Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund’s education…
Read More | Multimedia
Fast Facts
Our Fast Facts are quick introductions to big ideas and concepts tackled by the Community Rights Movement! Check out our Fast Facts and find resources to more information to further your knowledge on the topics! Watch them all here.
Rights of Nature
Community Rights
Box of Allowable Activism
[The Community Rights and Rights of Nature movement] is the beginning of a social movement that is greater than just the oil and gas industry, it is a potential game changer for all of corporate America.
Independent Petroleum Association of New Mexico