This article by Jes Burns originally appeared in, EarthFix on May 8, 2017 Voters in Oregon’s Coos County are considering a May ballot measure that would block the Jordan Cove liquefied natural gas project. The measure is a product of the community-rights movement, which broadly aims to give local communities final say over corporate projects that affect them. The [...]
This article by Chuck Abraham originally appeared in the, Ridgway Record on May 5, 2017. Four environmentalists approached the Elk County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday, asking for support in Highland Township's fight against Seneca Resources of Houston over a Class IID wastewater injection well the oil and gas company is placing within a half [...]
This article by David Dewitt originally appeared in, The Athens News on April 23, 2017 For the third year in a row, the Athens County Bill of Rights Committee will seek to put the question of turning the county into a charter form of government to voters in November. As with the other initiatives, this charter proposal doubles as [...]
Published on April 3, 2017, in Public Herald. As an elected official, it is Stacy Long’s sworn duty to protect her constituents. As a resident, and now as a supervisor of Grant Township in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, she and her fellow citizens have taken bold steps to fight against government and industry who want to [...]
This article was published on March 30, 2017 on Penn Live. Highland Township, Elk County, Pennsylvania - Marsha Buhl of Highland Township was placing Easter decorations at a local park on Wednesday when she first learned that the township she calls home -- population 500 -- was being sued by the state. The action, brought by [...]
From the Des Moines Register newspaper, 2/22/2016. Opponents of the proposed Bakken oil pipeline are pledging an all-out fight if Iowa regulators approve the project, launching a court battle and engaging in community activism that could result in some protesters trying to block construction crews. The Iowa Utilities Board expects to make a decision in early March on a request [...]
In this article by Simon Davis-Cohen in Truth-Out, the Michigan state government actually cites Supreme Court cases that relied on Dillon's rule, in its argument defending the Michigan Emergency Manager law that unconstitutionally swept various poor communities' city councils into the dustbin. Detroit's hardship has garnered much attention: the privatization; the racism; the water shutoffs; [...]
KBOO Radio's Joe Meyer produced this series of interviews in 2012. The show lasts 29 minutes. Oregon and Washington have dramatically reduced coal-powered energy generation. As a result coal companies are pushing to export tens of millions of tons of coal from Montana and Wyoming, through Pacific Northwest ports, to Asian markets. The coal would [...]
This article by Walt Brasch appeared in Dissident Voice, March 18th, 2018. A brief commentary by Community Rights US organizer and educator Paul Cienfuegos: This article doesn’t say so explicitly, but fracking corporations are allowed to keep these outrageous secrets from doctors and their patients because the Supreme Court has granted them so-called Privacy “Rights" [...]
State Supreme Court Issues Remarkable Ruling Against Corporate Speech This article by Steven Rosenfeld appeared on AlterNet, January 1, 2012. We the People are used to acting more as a servant class than as The Sovereign, with authority to govern ourselves. Recently, the Montana Supreme Court reminded us what political backbone looks like. Just as [...]
