Search Results for: rights of nature
Updated July 12, 2019
Board of Elections refuses to certify signatures, deems county charter unconstitutional
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Tish O’Dell, Ohio Community Organizer
CELDF.org
tish@celdf.org
440-552-6774
BRYAN, OH: On Monday, the Williams County Board of Elections (BOE) attempted to block a proposed county charter initiative brought forward by residents seeking to protect the Michindoh Aquifer from privatization. The initiative recognizes the rights of the aquifer to exist and flourish. The BOE was responsible for verifying signatures and forwarding the initiative to county commissioners. Instead, they determined the initiative was unconstitutional. Petitioners gathered 2,077 valid signatures, well more than the required 1,364.
Williams County residents are threatened by the private company Artesian of Pioneer’s (AOP) proposed withdrawal and sale of millions of gallons of water daily, to outside municipalities and whoever else might want to purchase it. The Michindoh Aquifer spans nine counties across Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio. It is Williams County’s only drinking water source. AOP is owned by a local mayor.
The BOE’s action is part of increasing attempts to quash Rights of Nature laws that are gaining momentum across Ohio and other states. Most recently, Toledo residents adopted the Lake Erie Bill of Rights in an effort to protect the Great Lake from pollution. An agribusiness corporation, backed by the Ohio Farm Bureau, and joined by the State of Ohio immediately filed suit to overturn LEBOR. That case is ongoing.
Sherry Fleming of Williams County Alliance (WCA), the local group behind the initiative, stated, “The BOE is responsible for certifying the signatures – not acting as judge to determine the constitutionality of a charter that has not even been enacted. This is beyond their authority. We, the people of Williams County are concerned about protecting our future – our land, water and community. This collusion between the BOE, corporations and our own purported government is clear, but it is not just, and we will not allow our essential drinking water to be privatized for profit.”
The Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) assisted WCA in drafting the charter. CELDF Ohio organizer Tish O’Dell stated, “The BOE chose to act outside their duties to prevent the initiative from going to the people for a vote. Stripping democratic rights is a dangerous trend we see across the state and the country. The people of Williams County will not give up so easily as our governing system tries to stop them from protecting themselves.”
CELDF filed a federal civil rights lawsuit last winter on behalf of seven Ohio communities who have been blocked from the ballot despite successfully qualifying similar initiatives.
The Williams County residents have requested the BOE initiate a lawsuit in the court of common pleas. The court must rule prior to 4:00 PM next Wednesday in order to give the county commissioners time to meet their required deadline per the Ohio Revised Code.
About CELDF — Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund
The Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) is building a movement for Community Rights and the Rights of Nature to advance democratic, economic, social, and environmental rights – building upward from the grassroots to the state, federal, and international level.
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Updated July 24, 2019
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Tish O’Dell, Ohio Community Organizer
CELDF.org
tish@celdf.org
440-552-6774
A pending state ban on Rights of Nature. Anonymous legislators. A lawsuit to enforce the lake’s rights. A new county petition…
COLUMBUS, OH: The Lake Erie Bill of Rights (LEBOR) made history when 61 percent of Toledo, Ohio, voters approved the groundbreaking law to establish legally enforceable rights for the 11th largest lake on Earth. Gaining national and international acclaim, it has helped accelerate a Rights of Nature movement that has seen other significant developments in Bangladesh, El Salvador, Mexico, New Hampshire, White Earth Band (Minnesota), Yurok tribe (California), and elsewhere in 2019.
However, LEBOR faces significant obstacles and backlash in Ohio. A corporate lawsuit has been filed to overturn the law, which the State of Ohio is supporting, and the law faces a legislative attack by anonymous Ohio legislator(s).
But residents are not backing down. The Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) has been assisting these communities on the ground and in the courtroom.
In the past week:
- June 26: Residents of Williams County, Ohio, which neighbors Toledo, submitted 2,500+ signatures to recognize rights for the Michindoh Aquifer. (Media release: https://celdf.org/
2019/06/media-statement-ohio- group-submits-signatures-to- recognize-rights-for- michindoh-aquifer/) - June 27: Three Toledo residents filed a pro se lawsuit to enforce the Lake Erie Bill of Rights. (Media release: https://celdf.org/
2019/06/toledo-residents- media-release-citizens- recognize-the-lake-erie-bill- of-rights-as-the-will-of-the- people/) - June 27: CELDF Ohio organizer Tish O’Dell was invited to meet with an Ohio state representative, regarding LEBOR.
- June 27: The state attorney general, who has attacked LEBOR, admitted “the people of Toledo have made their voices heard.” (News:https://www.toledoblade.
com/local/environment/2019/06/ 27/toledo-activists-file- court-order-protect-lake-erie- bill-rights-valid-lebor-vote/ stories/20190627139) - June 30: The Ohio legislature delayed a vote on the state budget. In the 3,000+ page document is language to ban Rights of Nature enforcement. The legislators who added the language have not made their identities known.
Meanwhile:
- The Lake Erie Bill of Rights was taken to federal court by a corporation that argues the local law violates its constitutional “rights” as a corporate “person.” (News: https://www.cleveland.
com/news/2019/02/toledoans- approve-first-lake-erie-bill- of-rights-farmer-sues-over- laws-constitutionality.html) - CELDF is representing residents from seven communities in federal court, arguing the removal of 14 municipal Rights of Nature laws from local ballots since 2015 constitutes a violation of residents’ civil rights. (Media release: https://celdf.org/
2019/02/news-release-ohio- community-members-file- federal-civil-rights-lawsuit/)
Lake Erie news:
- A thick algae bloom is now creeping into Lake Erie. (News: https://www.usnews.com/
news/best-states/ohio/ articles/2019-06-29/algae- bloom-creeping-into-lake-erie- from-sandusky-bay) - NOAA scientists predict severe algae blooms on Lake Erie this summer. (Weather.gov: https://www.
weather.gov/cle/LakeErieHAB) - Watchdog groups are concerned about a 2018 Ohio bill that will begin subsidizing hog farms in the Lake Erie watershed (Link: https://docs.wixstatic.
com/ugd/9267e0_ 34c5baab218b4e1e992aaba236282c 1c.pdf) - As an apparent concession to Toledo residents, Governor Mike DeWine proposed a H2Ohio plan to allocate $900 million dollars to invest in the health of Ohio waterways and Lake Erie. As with other previous plans, the money will go towards future studies and vague solutions.
“By attempting to ban Rights of Nature enforcement, the state has delegitimized itself,” says CELDF’s Ohio organizer, Tish O’Dell. “The people of Toledo have exposed the truth. No one is protecting the Lake.”
“We are celebrating July 4th this week,” O’Dell continued. “This time 243 years ago, ordinary people making up communities across the colonies took action because they lived under a government that represented its own interests and the interests of its corporate allies, ignoring the needs and wants of the people. And so it is today. As those fireworks explode, I hope people think of the people in Toledo, Ohio who are challenging this system. They worked tirelessly and without pay to assert the ideals and beliefs of local self-governance. The people of Toledo, and nearly 200 other communities across the country, have had enough and are challenging this system.”
About CELDF — Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund
The Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) is building a movement for Community Rights and the Rights of Nature to advance democratic, economic, social, and environmental rights – building upward from the grassroots to the state, federal, and international level.
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.
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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.
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Photo by David, Flickr Creative Commons