The headline is deceptive. The law actually prevents local water protection even if the state fails to act. Published by WUFT on June 30, 2020 By Marlowe Starling MIAMI – Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law Tuesday a proposal expected to improve water quality across the state. The Republican governor called the measure “one of [...]
A Toledo Blade editorial, May 26, 2020 Last April, Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz said, “There’s no fight about the health of Lake Erie we would run from.” The mayor made the promise to fight for a cleaner Lake Erie at a news conference in which he was blasting agricultural interests who have been fighting regulation [...]
A blog post from the American Heart Association explores how state preemption harms people and how some communities are fighting back: The other day, while waiting in line at my Atlanta neighborhood grocery store, practicing my best social-distancing techniques among face-masked shoppers scavenging depleted food shelves, I took a good look at the people who [...]
The article below argues for stronger environmental protections if we want to avoid future pandemics and environmental catastrophes. In the Community Rights movement we are challenging legal doctrines that make sustainability illegal in the United States. As we work to legalize sustainability we should beware the Box of Allowable Activism and work to dismantle it. [...]
The pandemic has brought the latest battle in the long American war over communal well-being. The tension between individual freedom and community well being is at the heart of community rights. Ibram X. Kendi's opinion piece in the Atlantic tackles the topic. Kendi writes: "From the beginning of the American project, the powerful individual has [...]
Local governments wish state officials would do more to combat coronavirus. In a few states, they’re angry that governors have issued orders that preempt cities and counties from setting their own course. Published April 3, 2020 in Governing by Alan Greenblatt Like other mayors around the country, Kate Gallego is trying to keep her residents [...]
Opponents argue the legislation makes it harder to get an issue on the ballot. By Jacob Ogles, published on March 24, 2020 by Florida Politics A growing number of advocacy groups called on Gov. Ron DeSantis to veto a bill increasing barriers for proposed constitutional amendments to make the ballot. A coalition of 13 organizations, [...]
For 50 years, environmentalists have celebrated the illusion that the law is on their side. This article by Markie Miller and Crystal Jankowski was published in Common Dreams on April 22nd, 2020. Let’s abolish Earth Day. Here’s why: The protection offered by the environmental regulatory system is an illusion. In 2014, our Toledo, Ohio municipal [...]
This letter was published on the Atlantic Chapter of the Sierra Club's website in the winter of 2010. This morning, the Pittsburgh City Council became the first municipality in the United States to ban natural gas extraction within its boundaries. The ordinance isn’t just a ban – it consists of a new Bill of Rights [...]
This 16 minute interview with Kai Huschke, Pacific Northwest organizer with the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF), was published on KBOO FM's website on April 9th, 2020. “[There is an opportunity] for communities, whether it’s small ones, or even larger cities, to really take the reins and say ‘no, we clearly need more power [...]
