This article by Sharon Lerner appeared in The Intercept on September 15th, 2018.
Brief commentary by Community Rights US Media Team member Curt Hubatch: It’s no wonder, after reading the first two paragraphs of this article, why the Independent Petroleum Association of New Mexico said what they said about the growing Community Rights movement in the United States:
“[The Community Rights 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.”
And yet this decidedly homespun group of part-time, volunteer, novice activists managed a rare feat: They didn’t just stop the spraying of pesticides that had been released from airplanes and helicopters in this rural county for decades. They also scared the hell out of the companies that make them, according to internal documents from CropLife America, the national pesticide trade group. Although some of the world’s biggest companies poured money into a stealth campaign to stop the ordinance, and even though the Lincoln activists had no experience running political campaigns, the locals still won. MORE…