Search Results for: rights of nature
The Rights of Nature continues to grow as the White Earth Band of Ojibwe adopted the Rights of Manoomin, or wild rice, law in December 2018. White Earth is part of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe.
This is the first law to recognize the rights of a plant species.
CELDF assisted Honor the Earth, an indigenous-led environmental advocacy group, in the development of the law.
media coverage
Check out our press release here, coverage by Yes! Magazine here, and in the StarTribune here. See the Rights of Manoomin video presentation for the United Nations on Earth Day 2019.
about manoomin
Manoomin is a sacred plant to tribal nations, providing physical, cultural, and spiritual sustenance. Tribal nations are working to protect manoomin from polluted water sources and global warming.
legal rights of manoomin
The law begins: “Manoomin, or wild rice, within all the Chippewa ceded territories, possesses inherent rights to exist, flourish, regenerate, and evolve, as well as inherent rights to restoration, recovery, and preservation.”
rights of nature where you live!
Become an ally, join the movement. Help grow Rights of Nature in your community. Contact CELDF for more information at info@celdf.org.
Featured image: Wild Rice Cornucopia by Brett Whaley, Flickr Creative Commons
The Rights of Nature continues to grow as the White Earth Band of Ojibwe adopted the Rights of Manoomin, or wild rice, law in December 2018. White Earth is part of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe.
This is the first law to recognize the rights of a plant species.
CELDF assisted Honor the Earth, an indigenous-led environmental advocacy group, in the development of the law.
media coverage
Check out our press release here, coverage by Yes! Magazine here, and in the StarTribune here. See the Rights of Manoomin video presentation for the United Nations on Earth Day 2019.
about manoomin
Manoomin is a sacred plant to tribal nations, providing physical, cultural, and spiritual sustenance. Tribal nations are working to protect manoomin from polluted water sources and global warming.
legal rights of manoomin
The law begins: “Manoomin, or wild rice, within all the Chippewa ceded territories, possesses inherent rights to exist, flourish, regenerate, and evolve, as well as inherent rights to restoration, recovery, and preservation.”
rights of nature where you live!
Become an ally, join the movement. Help grow Rights of Nature in your community. Contact CELDF for more information at info@celdf.org.
Featured image: Wild Rice Cornucopia by Brett Whaley, Flickr Creative Commons
The Rights of Nature continues to grow as the White Earth Band of Ojibwe adopted the Rights of Manoomin, or wild rice, law in December 2018. White Earth is part of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe.
This is the first law to recognize the rights of a plant species.
CELDF assisted Honor the Earth, an indigenous-led environmental advocacy group, in the development of the law.
media coverage
Check out our press release here, coverage by Yes! Magazine here, and in the StarTribune here. See the Rights of Manoomin video presentation for the United Nations on Earth Day 2019.
about manoomin
Manoomin is a sacred plant to tribal nations, providing physical, cultural, and spiritual sustenance. Tribal nations are working to protect manoomin from polluted water sources and global warming.
legal rights of manoomin
The law begins: “Manoomin, or wild rice, within all the Chippewa ceded territories, possesses inherent rights to exist, flourish, regenerate, and evolve, as well as inherent rights to restoration, recovery, and preservation.”
rights of nature where you live!
Become an ally, join the movement. Help grow Rights of Nature in your community. Contact CELDF for more information at info@celdf.org.
Featured image: Wild Rice Cornucopia by Brett Whaley, Flickr Creative Commons
The Rights of Nature continues to grow as the White Earth Band of Ojibwe adopted the Rights of Manoomin, or wild rice, law in December 2018. White Earth is part of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe.
This is the first law to recognize the rights of a plant species.
CELDF assisted Honor the Earth, an indigenous-led environmental advocacy group, in the development of the law.
media coverage
Check out our press release here, coverage by Yes! Magazine here, and in the StarTribune here. See the Rights of Manoomin video presentation for the United Nations on Earth Day 2019.
about manoomin
Manoomin is a sacred plant to tribal nations, providing physical, cultural, and spiritual sustenance. Tribal nations are working to protect manoomin from polluted water sources and global warming.
legal rights of manoomin
The law begins: “Manoomin, or wild rice, within all the Chippewa ceded territories, possesses inherent rights to exist, flourish, regenerate, and evolve, as well as inherent rights to restoration, recovery, and preservation.”
rights of nature where you live!
Become an ally, join the movement. Help grow Rights of Nature in your community. Contact CELDF for more information at info@celdf.org.
Featured image: Wild Rice Cornucopia by Brett Whaley, Flickr Creative Commons
Listen to the Australian Centre for the Rights of Nature’s founder Dr. Michelle Maloney, interviewed on ABC Drive (North Queensland) with Adam Stephen, discussing the purpose and push for the recognition of the legal rights of the Great Barrier Reef. (Interview starts at 2:10 and runs until 15:45.)
“Animals cannot be treated merely as Property”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Stacey Schmader
Administrative Director
Info@celdf.org
717-498-0054
MERCERSBURG, PA, USA: On July 4, the High Court of Uttarakhand at Naintal in northern India issued a ruling in a case brought to end cruelty of horses used in transport. The court declared that:
“Every species has an inherent right to live and are required to be protected by law.”
The decision is part of unprecedented advancement in the growing Rights of Nature movement that includes the work of the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF). Beginning in 2006, CELDF assisted the first communities in the United States – the very first places in the world – to advance the rights of nature into law. CELDF has now assisted more than three dozen communities across the U.S., as well as the first country in the world – Ecuador – to secure the rights of nature to exist and flourish.
In this week’s India case, Narayan Dutt Bhatt v. Union of India & others, the High Court explained that declaring the animal kingdom as possessing rights is necessary “in order to protect and promote greater welfare of animals including avian and aquatic.”
Citing the growing extinction rates of animals – which today exceeds 1,000 times natural background rates – the Court explained, “The loss of one species causes immense damage to the entire ecosystem.”
Further, the Court explained that the growing environmental crises across the globe – including climate change – reveals “there are gaps in laws” that need to be addressed to protect the environment.
Such laws treat nature, including animals, as property without legal rights. The Court asserted that this needs to change. “Animals cannot be treated merely as property” existing for human use. Rather, the Court wrote that to address this deficiency in the law related to the environment, “New inventions are required to be made in law to protect the environment and ecology,” including the recognition of legal rights of nature.
The ruling by the High Court follows two rulings it issued in 2017. The Court declared legal rights of certain ecosystems, including the Ganges River. Similarly in Colombia, the Courts issued two rulings in which the Atrato River and the Colombian Amazon region now possess legal rights.
Courts are reaching these decisions as they witness the severe decline of the environment, despite numerous environmental laws. As Colombia’s Constitutional Court explained in its 2016 decision recognizing rights of the Atrato River, in which it described the many ways in which human activity was jeopardizing the environment, “(J)ustice with nature must be applied beyond the human scenario and must allow nature to be a subject of rights. Under this understanding, the Court considers it necessary to take a step forward in jurisprudence….”
In its ruling this week, the High Court describes the growing movement to recognize rights of nature.
A CELDF representative explained, “In declaring that the animal kingdom has legal rights, the High Court is taking a significant step forward in changing how humankind governs itself toward nature. As species extinction rates accelerate, jeopardizing both human and non-human life, it is critical to establish the highest legal protection for nature, including animals, through the recognition of legal rights.”
“This is a significant step forward to transforming nature from being considered property under the law, to being recognized as possessing inherent rights to life and well-being,” they added.
As efforts to advance legal rights of nature continue, CELDF has been partnering with India-based NGOs to recognize fundamental rights of the Ganga River and the entire river basin. With the Global WASH Alliance-India and Ganga Action Parivar, CELDF drafted the proposed National Ganga River Rights Act. The Act would recognize fundamental rights of the Ganga to exist, flourish, evolve, and be restored, and the people of India to a healthy, thriving river ecosystem. The legislation was presented to India Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, which established a committee within the administration to review the Act.
In local laws in the U.S., as well as in the Ecuador Constitution, rights of nature laws secure rights that are necessary to the ability of ecosystems to be healthy and thrive. These laws transform ecosystems from being considered resources available for human use, to living entities with inherent rights.
Communities have adopted these laws with the growing recognition around the world that environmental laws premised on regulating the use of nature, are unable to protect nature. They stated, “The collapse of ecosystems and species, as well as the acceleration of climate change, are clear indications that a fundamental change in the relationship between humankind and the natural world is necessary.”
About the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) & the International Center for the Rights of Nature
The Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund’s mission is to build sustainable communities by assisting people to assert their right to local self-government and the rights of nature. CELDF’s International Center for the Rights of Nature is partnering with communities and organizations in countries around the world to advance the rights of nature.
Today, CELDF is partnering with communities and organizations across the United States, as well as in Nepal, India, Australia, Sweden, and other countries to advance rights of nature legal frameworks.
###
Photo by David, Flickr Creative Commons
“Animals cannot be treated merely as Property”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Stacey Schmader
Administrative Director
Info@celdf.org
717-498-0054
MERCERSBURG, PA, USA: On July 4, the High Court of Uttarakhand at Naintal in northern India issued a ruling in a case brought to end cruelty of horses used in transport. The court declared that:
“Every species has an inherent right to live and are required to be protected by law.”
The decision is part of unprecedented advancement in the growing Rights of Nature movement that includes the work of the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF). Beginning in 2006, CELDF assisted the first communities in the United States – the very first places in the world – to advance the rights of nature into law. CELDF has now assisted more than three dozen communities across the U.S., as well as the first country in the world – Ecuador – to secure the rights of nature to exist and flourish.
In this week’s India case, Narayan Dutt Bhatt v. Union of India & others, the High Court explained that declaring the animal kingdom as possessing rights is necessary “in order to protect and promote greater welfare of animals including avian and aquatic.”
Citing the growing extinction rates of animals – which today exceeds 1,000 times natural background rates – the Court explained, “The loss of one species causes immense damage to the entire ecosystem.”
Further, the Court explained that the growing environmental crises across the globe – including climate change – reveals “there are gaps in laws” that need to be addressed to protect the environment.
Such laws treat nature, including animals, as property without legal rights. The Court asserted that this needs to change. “Animals cannot be treated merely as property” existing for human use. Rather, the Court wrote that to address this deficiency in the law related to the environment, “New inventions are required to be made in law to protect the environment and ecology,” including the recognition of legal rights of nature.
The ruling by the High Court follows two rulings it issued in 2017. The Court declared legal rights of certain ecosystems, including the Ganges River. Similarly in Colombia, the Courts issued two rulings in which the Atrato River and the Colombian Amazon region now possess legal rights.
Courts are reaching these decisions as they witness the severe decline of the environment, despite numerous environmental laws. As Colombia’s Constitutional Court explained in its 2016 decision recognizing rights of the Atrato River, in which it described the many ways in which human activity was jeopardizing the environment, “(J)ustice with nature must be applied beyond the human scenario and must allow nature to be a subject of rights. Under this understanding, the Court considers it necessary to take a step forward in jurisprudence….”
In its ruling this week, the High Court describes the growing movement to recognize rights of nature.
A CELDF representative explained, “In declaring that the animal kingdom has legal rights, the High Court is taking a significant step forward in changing how humankind governs itself toward nature. As species extinction rates accelerate, jeopardizing both human and non-human life, it is critical to establish the highest legal protection for nature, including animals, through the recognition of legal rights.”
“This is a significant step forward to transforming nature from being considered property under the law, to being recognized as possessing inherent rights to life and well-being,” they added.
As efforts to advance legal rights of nature continue, CELDF has been partnering with India-based NGOs to recognize fundamental rights of the Ganga River and the entire river basin. With the Global WASH Alliance-India and Ganga Action Parivar, CELDF drafted the proposed National Ganga River Rights Act. The Act would recognize fundamental rights of the Ganga to exist, flourish, evolve, and be restored, and the people of India to a healthy, thriving river ecosystem. The legislation was presented to India Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, which established a committee within the administration to review the Act.
In local laws in the U.S., as well as in the Ecuador Constitution, rights of nature laws secure rights that are necessary to the ability of ecosystems to be healthy and thrive. These laws transform ecosystems from being considered resources available for human use, to living entities with inherent rights.
Communities have adopted these laws with the growing recognition around the world that environmental laws premised on regulating the use of nature, are unable to protect nature. They stated, “The collapse of ecosystems and species, as well as the acceleration of climate change, are clear indications that a fundamental change in the relationship between humankind and the natural world is necessary.”
About the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) & the International Center for the Rights of Nature
The Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund’s mission is to build sustainable communities by assisting people to assert their right to local self-government and the rights of nature. CELDF’s International Center for the Rights of Nature is partnering with communities and organizations in countries around the world to advance the rights of nature.
Today, CELDF is partnering with communities and organizations across the United States, as well as in Nepal, India, Australia, Sweden, and other countries to advance rights of nature legal frameworks.
###
Photo by David, Flickr Creative Commons
Right of local community self-government advances
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Tish O’Dell, Ohio Community Organizer
440-552-6774
tish@celdf.org
COLUMBUS, OHIO: Yesterday, the Ohio Ballot Board unanimously approved two proposed state constitutional amendments, determining they each meet the single subject requirement. A legal representative of the people, community members, and several members of the Ohio Community Rights Network (OHCRN) attended the hearing to voice their support to the Ballot Board members.
Ohio residents are advancing the Ohio Community Rights Amendment and the Initiative and Referendum for Counties and Townships Amendment. The Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) assisted residents and the OHCRN to draft and legally review the measures.
Gwen Fischer, a member of Portage County Community Rights Group, helped gather initial signatures for the measures. She stated, “The people working on Community Rights in Ohio know that it is standard practice for our state legislature to propose and pass laws that violate the single subject rule in the constitution, so it was gratifying to see the Ballot Board not apply a stricter standard to the people.”
The Ohio Community Rights Amendment codifies the right to local community self-government, enabling local governments to protect and expand fundamental rights and prohibit corporate activities that violate those rights. It also secures the authority of communities to put in place stronger environmental rights and protections than those recognized at the state, federal, or international level.
The Initiative and Referendum Amendment for Counties and Townships amendment extends the right to initiative and referendum to residents living in townships and counties. Today, only city and village residents can exercise their inalienable right to propose and repeal laws. However, nearly 39% of Ohio’s population resides in townships. They do not have the same constitutional right to legislate. This amendment extends equal rights to local self-government to all Ohio residents, regardless of where they live.
The Attorney General certified both initiatives on November 27th. With the approval of the Ballot Board, residents will begin gathering signatures.
Residents are facing ongoing efforts by state government to strip local-governing authority over fracking, gun control, predatory lending, minimum wage, and more. Corporate lobbyists draft state preemptive laws, which are then adopted by state legislators.
“Since 2012, residents have advanced local Community Rights laws to stop fracking, pipelines, and other fossil fuel projects threatening their health, safety, and welfare as well as local election law and rights of nature. As those efforts build, so have efforts to stop the people from protecting themselves and creating the communities they envision. These state constitutional measures ensure that the authority of we, the people, is elevated above corporate or state claims to have decision-making powers over us,” stated Tish O’Dell, CELDF’s Ohio organizer.
This grassroots movement by the people of Ohio is not backed or funded by large corporate donors. The OHCRN and its allies invite residents from across the state to join the fight for rights! Sign up to volunteer at www.ohcommunityrights.org.
Ohio Communities Part of Growing Movement
Local communities and state Community Rights Networks are partnering with CELDF to advance and protect fundamental democratic and environmental rights. They are working with CELDF to establish Community Rights and the Rights of Nature in law, and prohibit extraction, fracking, factory farming, water privatization, and other industrial activities as violations of those rights. Communities are joining together within and across states, working with CELDF to advance systemic change – recognizing our existing system of law and governance as inherently undemocratic and unsustainable.
Additional Information
For additional information regarding the state amendments, contact CELDF at info@celdf.org. To learn about the Ohio Community Rights Network, visit ohiocrn.org. To learn about the Community Rights Movement, visit www.celdf.org.
About CELDF — Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund
The Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund is a non-profit, public interest law firm providing free and affordable legal services to communities facing threats to their local environment, local agriculture, local economy, and quality of life. Its mission is to build sustainable communities by assisting people to assert their right to local self-government and the Rights of Nature.
It’s not every day that a public interest law firm and the communities it serves begin a movement! But what began over twenty years ago as an effort to help communities enforce the nation’s environmental laws, has now fully evolved into a resistance movement focused on driving rights for local self-determination and nature into the highest levels of law.
CELDF and our partner communities are leading the charge! This year was marked by several historic firsts —
- The adoption by Lafayette, Colorado’s City Council of the nation’s first “Climate Bill of Rights.” The ordnance bans fracking for natural gas in the City as a violation of the right of residents to a healthy climate, and the right of the climate itself to exist and flourish;
- CELDF litigated a case resulting in a landmark ruling: The Ohio Supreme Court overturned an Ohio statute — adopted by the Ohio legislature last year — that enabled local election boards to unilaterally deny ballot placement for local, rights-based laws;
- CELDF’s International Center for the Rights of Nature met with Parliamentarians in Nepal and Sweden. Further, CELDF helped to draft new constitutional amendments and laws in India and Nepal that would recognize legal rights for ecosystems and nature;
- CELDF helped to draft and file the first lawsuit brought by the Colorado River, Colorado River State of Colorado. The River seeks constitutional recognition for its rights to exist and flourish;
- With Tulane Law School, CELDF co-hosted the first U.S. “Rights of Nature” Symposium, featuring speakers from Nepal, Australia, Ecuador, Sweden, tribal nations, and local communities. These key leaders spoke about the movement towards expanding legal rights for ecosystems and nature. Karenna Gore delivered the keynote at the conference;
- In New Hampshire, Ohio, and Oregon, CELDF Community Rights Networks continued to advance state-level constitutional amendments. The rights- based amendment would explicitly recognize the local authority of communities to adopt local bills of rights limiting corporate “rights” and recognizing rights for ecosystems and nature;
- The Arizona Journal of Environmental Law and Policy published “A Phoenix from the Ashes: Resurrecting a Constitutional Right of Local, Community Self- Government in the Name of Environmental Sustainability.” This is a CELDF law review article that explores the legal doctrine behind the Community Rights movement;
- CELDF led several workshops for tribal nations, including the tribes of the Colorado Plateau, the Chippewain Minnesota, andthe Ho-Chunkin Wisconsin, focused on establishing legal rights for ecosystems and nature within their tribal constitutions
- CELDF litigated a case resulting in a landmark ruling: The Ohio Supreme Court overturned an Ohio statute
Along with these new initiatives, CELDF continues to support and defend those community partners who we’ve been fighting alongside over the past decade. Those include the people and elected officials of Grant Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania — recently featured in Rolling Stone magazine — who have steadfastly refused to allow an oil and gas company to inject fracking fluids into their Township. For the past five years, that epic battle between the company and the Township has raged, with the company forcing a jury trial on its claims against the Township for violating the company’s constitutional “rights.” On May 14, 2018, the people of Grant will collide with the oil and gas company in that trial, and CELDF will represent them.
Right down the road, the people of Highland Township, Elk County, are traveling a similar path. Unwilling to allow an oil and gas company to use their Township as a dumping ground for fracking waste, they too have made a stand of their own. CELDF stands with them.
There have been other “firsts” as well, which show the system in its true light. In response to Grant Township standing up against the oil and gas companies that seek to use Grant and other localities as dumping grounds, Grant was hit with another lawsuit from an unexpected source — the state itself. In March, the State’s Department of Environmental Protection sued Grant, seeking to overturn the Township’s ban on frack injection wells. Grant Township is fighting back, and CELDF stands with them.
A big thank you to everyone who has stood with CELDF over the years. Your support allows us to do what we do in the name of Community Rights and nature. If you’re not a supporter, please consider becoming one; and be- coming part of this resistance movement that is changing both the law and our culture.
Stand with us, so that we can continue to stand with the people across this country — and beyond — who are making a difference.
Your donation is tax deductible!
Featured image: Occupy Sydney by Kate Ausburn Flickr Creative Commons
It’s not every day that a public interest law firm and the communities it serves begin a movement! But what began over twenty years ago as an effort to help communities enforce the nation’s environmental laws, has now fully evolved into a resistance movement focused on driving rights for local self-determination and nature into the highest levels of law.
CELDF and our partner communities are leading the charge! This year was marked by several historic firsts —
- The adoption by Lafayette, Colorado’s City Council of the nation’s first “Climate Bill of Rights.” The ordnance bans fracking for natural gas in the City as a violation of the right of residents to a healthy climate, and the right of the climate itself to exist and flourish;
- CELDF litigated a case resulting in a landmark ruling: The Ohio Supreme Court overturned an Ohio statute — adopted by the Ohio legislature last year — that enabled local election boards to unilaterally deny ballot placement for local, rights-based laws;
- CELDF’s International Center for the Rights of Nature met with Parliamentarians in Nepal and Sweden. Further, CELDF helped to draft new constitutional amendments and laws in India and Nepal that would recognize legal rights for ecosystems and nature;
- CELDF helped to draft and file the first lawsuit brought by the Colorado River, Colorado River State of Colorado. The River seeks constitutional recognition for its rights to exist and flourish;
- With Tulane Law School, CELDF co-hosted the first U.S. “Rights of Nature” Symposium, featuring speakers from Nepal, Australia, Ecuador, Sweden, tribal nations, and local communities. These key leaders spoke about the movement towards expanding legal rights for ecosystems and nature. Karenna Gore delivered the keynote at the conference;
- In New Hampshire, Ohio, and Oregon, CELDF Community Rights Networks continued to advance state-level constitutional amendments. The rights- based amendment would explicitly recognize the local authority of communities to adopt local bills of rights limiting corporate “rights” and recognizing rights for ecosystems and nature;
- The Arizona Journal of Environmental Law and Policy published “A Phoenix from the Ashes: Resurrecting a Constitutional Right of Local, Community Self- Government in the Name of Environmental Sustainability.” This is a CELDF law review article that explores the legal doctrine behind the Community Rights movement;
- CELDF led several workshops for tribal nations, including the tribes of the Colorado Plateau, the Chippewain Minnesota, andthe Ho-Chunkin Wisconsin, focused on establishing legal rights for ecosystems and nature within their tribal constitutions
- CELDF litigated a case resulting in a landmark ruling: The Ohio Supreme Court overturned an Ohio statute
Along with these new initiatives, CELDF continues to support and defend those community partners who we’ve been fighting alongside over the past decade. Those include the people and elected officials of Grant Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania — recently featured in Rolling Stone magazine — who have steadfastly refused to allow an oil and gas company to inject fracking fluids into their Township. For the past five years, that epic battle between the company and the Township has raged, with the company forcing a jury trial on its claims against the Township for violating the company’s constitutional “rights.” On May 14, 2018, the people of Grant will collide with the oil and gas company in that trial, and CELDF will represent them.
Right down the road, the people of Highland Township, Elk County, are traveling a similar path. Unwilling to allow an oil and gas company to use their Township as a dumping ground for fracking waste, they too have made a stand of their own. CELDF stands with them.
There have been other “firsts” as well, which show the system in its true light. In response to Grant Township standing up against the oil and gas companies that seek to use Grant and other localities as dumping grounds, Grant was hit with another lawsuit from an unexpected source — the state itself. In March, the State’s Department of Environmental Protection sued Grant, seeking to overturn the Township’s ban on frack injection wells. Grant Township is fighting back, and CELDF stands with them.
A big thank you to everyone who has stood with CELDF over the years. Your support allows us to do what we do in the name of Community Rights and nature. If you’re not a supporter, please consider becoming one; and be- coming part of this resistance movement that is changing both the law and our culture.
Stand with us, so that we can continue to stand with the people across this country — and beyond — who are making a difference.
Your donation is tax deductible!
Featured image: Occupy Sydney by Kate Ausburn Flickr Creative Commons
It’s not every day that a public interest law firm and the communities it serves begin a movement! But what began over twenty years ago as an effort to help communities enforce the nation’s environmental laws, has now fully evolved into a resistance movement focused on driving rights for local self-determination and nature into the highest levels of law.
CELDF and our partner communities are leading the charge! This year was marked by several historic firsts —
- The adoption by Lafayette, Colorado’s City Council of the nation’s first “Climate Bill of Rights.” The ordnance bans fracking for natural gas in the City as a violation of the right of residents to a healthy climate, and the right of the climate itself to exist and flourish;
- CELDF litigated a case resulting in a landmark ruling: The Ohio Supreme Court overturned an Ohio statute — adopted by the Ohio legislature last year — that enabled local election boards to unilaterally deny ballot placement for local, rights-based laws;
- CELDF’s International Center for the Rights of Nature met with Parliamentarians in Nepal and Sweden. Further, CELDF helped to draft new constitutional amendments and laws in India and Nepal that would recognize legal rights for ecosystems and nature;
- CELDF helped to draft and file the first lawsuit brought by the Colorado River, Colorado River State of Colorado. The River seeks constitutional recognition for its rights to exist and flourish;
- With Tulane Law School, CELDF co-hosted the first U.S. “Rights of Nature” Symposium, featuring speakers from Nepal, Australia, Ecuador, Sweden, tribal nations, and local communities. These key leaders spoke about the movement towards expanding legal rights for ecosystems and nature. Karenna Gore delivered the keynote at the conference;
- In New Hampshire, Ohio, and Oregon, CELDF Community Rights Networks continued to advance state-level constitutional amendments. The rights- based amendment would explicitly recognize the local authority of communities to adopt local bills of rights limiting corporate “rights” and recognizing rights for ecosystems and nature;
- The Arizona Journal of Environmental Law and Policy published “A Phoenix from the Ashes: Resurrecting a Constitutional Right of Local, Community Self- Government in the Name of Environmental Sustainability.” This is a CELDF law review article that explores the legal doctrine behind the Community Rights movement;
- CELDF led several workshops for tribal nations, including the tribes of the Colorado Plateau, the Chippewain Minnesota, andthe Ho-Chunkin Wisconsin, focused on establishing legal rights for ecosystems and nature within their tribal constitutions
- CELDF litigated a case resulting in a landmark ruling: The Ohio Supreme Court overturned an Ohio statute
Along with these new initiatives, CELDF continues to support and defend those community partners who we’ve been fighting alongside over the past decade. Those include the people and elected officials of Grant Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania — recently featured in Rolling Stone magazine — who have steadfastly refused to allow an oil and gas company to inject fracking fluids into their Township. For the past five years, that epic battle between the company and the Township has raged, with the company forcing a jury trial on its claims against the Township for violating the company’s constitutional “rights.” On May 14, 2018, the people of Grant will collide with the oil and gas company in that trial, and CELDF will represent them.
Right down the road, the people of Highland Township, Elk County, are traveling a similar path. Unwilling to allow an oil and gas company to use their Township as a dumping ground for fracking waste, they too have made a stand of their own. CELDF stands with them.
There have been other “firsts” as well, which show the system in its true light. In response to Grant Township standing up against the oil and gas companies that seek to use Grant and other localities as dumping grounds, Grant was hit with another lawsuit from an unexpected source — the state itself. In March, the State’s Department of Environmental Protection sued Grant, seeking to overturn the Township’s ban on frack injection wells. Grant Township is fighting back, and CELDF stands with them.
A big thank you to everyone who has stood with CELDF over the years. Your support allows us to do what we do in the name of Community Rights and nature. If you’re not a supporter, please consider becoming one; and be- coming part of this resistance movement that is changing both the law and our culture.
Stand with us, so that we can continue to stand with the people across this country — and beyond — who are making a difference.
Your donation is tax deductible!
Featured image: Occupy Sydney by Kate Ausburn Flickr Creative Commons
It’s not every day that a public interest law firm and the communities it serves begin a movement! But what began over twenty years ago as an effort to help communities enforce the nation’s environmental laws, has now fully evolved into a resistance movement focused on driving rights for local self-determination and nature into the highest levels of law.
CELDF and our partner communities are leading the charge! This year was marked by several historic firsts —
- The adoption by Lafayette, Colorado’s City Council of the nation’s first “Climate Bill of Rights.” The ordnance bans fracking for natural gas in the City as a violation of the right of residents to a healthy climate, and the right of the climate itself to exist and flourish;
- CELDF litigated a case resulting in a landmark ruling: The Ohio Supreme Court overturned an Ohio statute — adopted by the Ohio legislature last year — that enabled local election boards to unilaterally deny ballot placement for local, rights-based laws;
- CELDF’s International Center for the Rights of Nature met with Parliamentarians in Nepal and Sweden. Further, CELDF helped to draft new constitutional amendments and laws in India and Nepal that would recognize legal rights for ecosystems and nature;
- CELDF helped to draft and file the first lawsuit brought by the Colorado River, Colorado River State of Colorado. The River seeks constitutional recognition for its rights to exist and flourish;
- With Tulane Law School, CELDF co-hosted the first U.S. “Rights of Nature” Symposium, featuring speakers from Nepal, Australia, Ecuador, Sweden, tribal nations, and local communities. These key leaders spoke about the movement towards expanding legal rights for ecosystems and nature. Karenna Gore delivered the keynote at the conference;
- In New Hampshire, Ohio, and Oregon, CELDF Community Rights Networks continued to advance state-level constitutional amendments. The rights- based amendment would explicitly recognize the local authority of communities to adopt local bills of rights limiting corporate “rights” and recognizing rights for ecosystems and nature;
- The Arizona Journal of Environmental Law and Policy published “A Phoenix from the Ashes: Resurrecting a Constitutional Right of Local, Community Self- Government in the Name of Environmental Sustainability.” This is a CELDF law review article that explores the legal doctrine behind the Community Rights movement;
- CELDF led several workshops for tribal nations, including the tribes of the Colorado Plateau, the Chippewain Minnesota, andthe Ho-Chunkin Wisconsin, focused on establishing legal rights for ecosystems and nature within their tribal constitutions
- CELDF litigated a case resulting in a landmark ruling: The Ohio Supreme Court overturned an Ohio statute
Along with these new initiatives, CELDF continues to support and defend those community partners who we’ve been fighting alongside over the past decade. Those include the people and elected officials of Grant Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania — recently featured in Rolling Stone magazine — who have steadfastly refused to allow an oil and gas company to inject fracking fluids into their Township. For the past five years, that epic battle between the company and the Township has raged, with the company forcing a jury trial on its claims against the Township for violating the company’s constitutional “rights.” On May 14, 2018, the people of Grant will collide with the oil and gas company in that trial, and CELDF will represent them.
Right down the road, the people of Highland Township, Elk County, are traveling a similar path. Unwilling to allow an oil and gas company to use their Township as a dumping ground for fracking waste, they too have made a stand of their own. CELDF stands with them.
There have been other “firsts” as well, which show the system in its true light. In response to Grant Township standing up against the oil and gas companies that seek to use Grant and other localities as dumping grounds, Grant was hit with another lawsuit from an unexpected source — the state itself. In March, the State’s Department of Environmental Protection sued Grant, seeking to overturn the Township’s ban on frack injection wells. Grant Township is fighting back, and CELDF stands with them.
A big thank you to everyone who has stood with CELDF over the years. Your support allows us to do what we do in the name of Community Rights and nature. If you’re not a supporter, please consider becoming one; and be- coming part of this resistance movement that is changing both the law and our culture.
Stand with us, so that we can continue to stand with the people across this country — and beyond — who are making a difference.
Your donation is tax deductible!
Featured image: Occupy Sydney by Kate Ausburn Flickr Creative Commons
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If you want positive change for Youngstown, there are two citizen initiatives to support by signing petitions so we the people can vote on them in November.
The first one, the Youngstown Drinking Water Protection amendment, is about protecting our drinking water and ensuring the “discretionary water and sewer maintenance funds” are spent on replacing old water pipes and infrastructure to guarantee we have safe water coming out of our taps.
The second one, the Fair Election and Access to Local Government amendment, is about making our local elections more accessible to all candidates and committees. It proposes that only registered voters within the city can contribute to local campaign funding, and each voter is limited to $100 on any single campaign.
When the Supreme Court ruled on Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission, justices prohibited the government from restricting independent political expenditures by nonprofit corporations, for-profit corporations, labor unions and other associations. This ruling has allowed those with the most money to influence the outcome of our elections. And we, the residents have witnessed, over and over again how we are silenced by these corporate donations. The Fair Election initiative attempts to level the political playing field, at least here in Youngstown.
Our petition efforts are about citizen cooperation for the common good. It is people standing up to remind alleged public servants that they work for us, not for their corporate sponsors.
This is exactly what the Youngstown Committee for the Two Community Bills of Rights: Drinking Water Protection and Fair Elections stands for. It’s why we’re proudly part of the coalition collecting signatures for these two initiatives. You can contact us and sign both petitions.
We hope you’ll join us in collecting signatures from your neighbors, family and friends, protecting the people and city of Youngstown, and enabling them to vote yes for our rights in November.
Lynn Anderson, Youngstown