This media release was published by the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund on November 25, 2019. AUSTRALIA: The first Rights of Nature legislation has been introduced in Australia, into the Western Australia Parliament. The International Center for the Rights of Nature assisted Member of Parliament Diane Evers and the Australian Earth Laws Alliance in drafting the bill. Western Australia [...]
Grant Township Stands Up to Intimidation Tactics This press release was published by the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund on November 11, 2019. MERCERSBURG, PA: An oil and gas industry lawsuit – seeking to override a community’s ban on frack waste injection wells, and simultaneously discipline the lawyers working to defend the community – has [...]
The local law is currently protecting Grant Township’s drinking water source from toxic hydraulic fracking waste injections. This press release was published by the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) on October 17th, 2019. --A week ago, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) presented arguments to overturn a community ban on frack waste injection [...]
The action is the first of its kind by a state political party in the United States. This media statement was published by the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) on October 15, 2019. On Saturday, the Florida Democratic Party approved a new party platform which includes the Rights of Nature. This is believed to [...]
Judge rules on behalf of corporations; disregards community’s right to local self-government & healthy environment This media statement was released by the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund on October 2nd, 2019. On May 2017, Lincoln County, Oregon, voters adopted the Freedom from Aerial Sprayed Pesticides ordinance. The first-in-the-state law recognizes residents’ rights to clean air, water, and [...]
Efforts to add legally enforceable rights for rivers are being advanced in at least five Florida counties. This press release was published by the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) on September 11, 2019. In the face of state and federal inaction amidst mounting ecological devastation, grassroots groups in Alachua, Orange, Lee, Brevard, and Osceola [...]
Court battle over rights for Michindoh Aquifer ballot initiative heads to Ohio Supreme Court. The press release by the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund was published on August 21st, 2019. BRYAN, OH: Officials from Williams County are stonewalling a proposed Community Rights county ballot initiative that would prevent corporate privatization of the Michindoh Aquifer, the sole [...]
A new motion from the City of Toledo cites ‘fatal’ flaws in the corporate lawsuit against LEBOR. Petitioners file amicus brief supporting the City This media release was published by the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund on August 13th, 2019. TOLEDO, OH: The City of Toledo has exposed serious errors and misrepresentations in Drewes Farms Partnership’s [...]
This letter to the editor by Staci Stevens was published in the Bryan Times (an Ohio newspaper) and on the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund's website on August 12th, 2019. The Bryan Times, The past few weeks I’ve heard some blowback on the charter that was proposed for the fall ballot in Williams County. The [...]
Tactics to keep duly-qualified citizen ballot measures off local ballots raise constitutional concerns in Ohio and Washington. This press release was published by the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund on July 22, 2019. MERCERSBURG, PA: Residents petitioning for municipal laws to expand human, civil, and ecosystem rights, while governing corporate activities, are facing administrative run-arounds, legal [...]
