This op-ed by The Blade editorial board was published on February 2nd, 2020. Lake Erie and those who rely on it need and deserve voices for action in Columbus. Advocates for the lake, exasperated with years of inaction on the part of state and federal agencies who were supposed to protect the lake from pollution, [...]
This article by Tom Henry was published in The Blade on February 27th, 2019. The Lake Erie Bill of Rights was invalidated Thursday night by U.S. District Judge Jack Zouhary, who said in an eight-page ruling that his decision was “not a close call” because he believes the citizen-led referendum — though approved by [...]
Life as we know it depends upon biodiversity, which is why the Campaign for Nature seeks to protect at least 30 percent of the planet by 2030. This article by Maryellen Kennedy Duckett appeared in the March 2020 issue of National Geographic. Biodiversity is a concept that’s commonly referenced, yet regularly misunderstood. The complex term [...]
This article appeared on the Center for Earth Jurisprudence's website on February 11th, 2019. Change can bring with it a corresponding resistance. The legal recognition of the rights of Nature has spread throughout the world’s property-based systems of governance in recent years, prompting significant backlash along the way. Currently in Florida, local groups are seeking [...]
This article appeared in Our Daily Planet in February of 2020. Traditionally, environmental laws have been written to manage how we use nature. However, the rapid degradation of nature driven by human activity is forcing indigenous leaders and activists to push for nature having rights that are enshrined in law. We saw an example of this last year [...]
This article by Tom Henry appeared in the Toledo Blade on January 28th, 2019. A downtown Toledo courtroom was filled to capacity Tuesday when U.S. District Judge Jack Zouhary heard arguments for two hours over whether Toledo’s Lake Erie Bill of Rights is constitutional or not. A ruling is expected at a later date. The plaintiffs, [...]
This article by Aaron Skirboll about Grant Township's resistance to Pennsylvania General Energy (PGE) injecting fracking wastewater into abandoned wells in the township was published in Sierra Club magazine on December 17th, 2019. JUNE 3, 2014. Looking back, many residents of Grant Township, Pennsylvania, believe that was the day their fight against the state's powerful [...]
If we want to forestall the worst of climate change, we need innovation not just in tech but in law, the rule sets that guide our behavior. This article by Clive Thompson was published in Wired magazine on December 17, 2019. In the summer of 2014, Markie Miller discovered she'd been drinking toxic coffee. Miller [...]
This article appeared in Naturens Rattigheter (a Swedish publication) on December 23, 2019. The Church of Sweden is with 6 million members the largest member-based organisation in Sweden and the largest Lutheran denomination in Europe. In november, the General Synod decided to approve a motion to include Rights of Nature into education across the board in [...]
This guest blog by Markie Miller and Crystal Jankowski was posted on the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund's website on December 10th, 2019. A few weeks ago, the Lake Erie Bill of Rights (LEBOR) was profiled in an article in The Guardian. The article, titled “Should this tree have the same rights as you?” was written by Robert Macfarlane. Two [...]
