This press release by Community Rights of San Juan appeared in the San Juan Islander on May 14, 2019.
COMMUNITY RIGHTS OF SAN JUAN ISLANDS PRESS RELEASE: The Salish Sea needs you. We need you. Join us. We are a group committed to protecting the Salish Sea by advancing a Rights of the Salish Sea Resolution this fall to be followed by a legally binding initiative on the 2020 ballot.
We believe that recognition of the inherent rights of the Salish Sea to survive, thrive and regenerate its life cycles is critical to reshaping our relationship with this ecosystem.
Headlines this week have been stark. A BBC article led with “Humans threaten one million species with extinction.” It’s a headline that burrows into the brain and emerges from the heart in a tangle of grief and fear. It disturbs the world community’s sleep like an alarm that has no snooze button. A million species.
Looking for deliverance, the report goes on: “These trends can be halted, the study says, but it will take ‘transformative change’ in every aspect of how humans interact with nature.”
Paired with the UN report that generated these headlines, the efforts of our group, Community Rights San Juan Islands (CRSJI), can feel small and slow. An initiative that recognizes the Rights of the Salish Sea, if passed, would likely be challenged.
This spring, the city of Toledo passed the Lake Erie Bill of Rights with 61% of the vote. There, toxic algae blooms linked to industrial agriculture left the city without drinkable water several times over the years. The day after the vote, the Lake Erie Bill of Rights was challenged by a lawsuit. This week, it got hit again. It’s no secret that monied interests fight and often succeed against community efforts to protect water, land, air — in essence, a livable future for all, humans and non-humans.
So why bother?
To read the rest of this press release at its original source please click HERE.