Patrick Farnsworth interviews Will Falk about his newly released book "How Dams Fall" and other essential Community Rights topics on his Last Born in the Wilderness podcast. It was published on July 29th, 2019. Below is the description of the interview. In this episode I speak with lawyer and radical environmental activist Will Falk. In [...]
Time to place the rights of nature at the heart of a new Irish constitution This blog post by Dr Peter Doran, School of Law, Queens University Belfast, Mari Margil, Associate Director, Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, appeared on #Think32 on August 11th, 2019. On the evening of 6th August, An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar TD, [...]
Conventional environmental laws have allowed Adani’s Carmichael coal mine go forward in Australia. It’s time we changed them. This article by Michele Maloney and Mari Margil was published in the Earth Island Journal on August 5th, 2019. Recently, groundwater extraction permits were granted for the controversial Carmichael coal mine project in Queensland, Australia. With that approval, Adani, [...]
This story by Ashley Westerman was published on National Public Radio's website on August 3rd, 2019. In early July, Bangladesh became the first country to grant all of its rivers the same legal status as humans. From now on, its rivers will be treated as living entities in a court of law. The landmark ruling by [...]
Native Hawaiians are protesting the construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea. Where do we go from here? This article by Sarah Emerson and Becky Ferreira was published in Vice.com on July 26th, 2019. Thousands of people including Native Hawaiians—Kanaka Maoli or Kanaka ʻŌiwi—gathered at Mauna Kea last week to protest the construction [...]
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 [...]
This editorial cartoon by Bruce Petush appeared in The Daily Reporter on July 21st, 2019. The Lake Erie algae blooms have caused harm to humans and nonhumans that have been exposed to it. It also was the catalyst for the campaign in Toledo, Ohio to grant Lake Erie the right to survive and thrive naturally.
Following a Daily Show profile of the Lake Erie Bill of Rights, the Ohio legislature has agreed on a new state budget that bans Rights of Nature enforcement. This media release was published by the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund on July 18th, 2019. COLUMBUS, OH: Yesterday, the Ohio Senate and House agreed on a new state budget [...]
This story and 5 minute video clip was posted on the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund's website on July 17th, 2019. Here is what CELDF had to say about it below. Lake Erie has rights, thanks to Toledo community members who partnered with CELDF and took action to protect the ecosystem and their sole source [...]
Final Verdict Protects a Half-Million Acres of Amazon Rainforest from Oil Drilling This article by Amazon Frontlines appeared in Intercontinental Cry on July 13th, 2019. After a hard-fought appeal, the Waorani people of Pastaza won a historic and final appellate ruling in Ecuadorian court protecting half a million acres of their territory in the Amazon [...]
