In 2015, Community Rights US’ founding director Paul Cienfuegos gave a major speech in Minneapolis on the potentially powerful intersection of the climate protection and community rights movements, titled, “We the People Standing Together to Protect Our Climate: Lessons From the Community Rights Movement“. Paul took the liberty of including in his speech a pretty substantial list of ideas for local ordinance topics. Here’s that sample list from his speech. The possibilities are truly endless. Please get in touch with us if you want help thinking creatively about what new laws YOUR community could pass!

* Prohibiting any further local fossil fuel extraction, or the burning of coal

* Prohibiting any further fossil fuel pipelines, coal or oil trains and barges through the community, that are linked to expanded extraction

* Establishing new local gas taxes at the pump, with all money being used to fund rapid expansion of community-based renewable energy projects and public transit

* Prohibiting local banks and investment companies from participating in any carbon trading schemes

* Requiring local lending institutions to provide low-interest loans to individuals and companies proposing carbon-neutral developments, and also prohibiting those institutions from lending money to any new fossil-fuel development projects

* In Transition Town communities that have already written an Energy Descent Action Plan, embedding the existing plan into a local ordinance, with annual enforceable deadlines, that brings the community close to 100% renewables and zero-carbon output within ten to twenty years years

* Prohibiting corporations doing business locally from donating to any candidates or elected officials, or participating in any way in ballot initiative or referendum campaigns

* Prohibiting corporations doing business locally from donating to, or partnering with, non-profit and advocacy organizations

* Using Eminent Domain laws to seize corporate property and place it under local public control whenever the corporate directors refuse to cooperate with the community’s objectives

* Nullifying the local enforceability of global trade treaties that violate the community’s right of self-governance or its health and welfare

* Recognizing, honoring, and enforcing Native treaty-protected rights to the local land and waters

* Ending all local government subsidies and tax breaks to the fossil fuel industry

* Banning the local sale of products produced in sweatshops anywhere in the world

* Requiring local grocery stores to reserve a growing percentage of their shelf space for products grown or produced within 500 miles, phased in over five to ten years

* Banning the export of any more local manufacturing jobs to factories overseas

* Prohibiting any increase in the number of flights passing through the local airport, and establishing a new tax on all local flights, with all monies going to establishing new high-speed rail or other low-carbon options

* Requiring that all containerized products sold in local stores be fully recyclable or compostable, phased in over five to ten years

* Prohibiting corporations doing business locally from using Eminent Domain laws for any purpose

* Establishing publicly funded and neighborhood-based car-sharing programs

* Implementing “polluter pays” principles by passing steep carbon taxes for local industry

* Establishing local policies that encourage an annual drop in personal consumption of items that contribute to high-carbon emissions

* Substantially raising the amount of public money for upgrading and repairing crumbling local infrastructure, and for improving local and regional public transit options

* Raising the level of local taxation for the affluent, and for large corporations doing business locally

* Providing economic incentives to massively increase local renewable energy projects, weatherization of homes and businesses, and ecosystem restoration

* Prohibiting the privatization of local utilities, and if necessary, reversing previous privatizations, to bring decision-making authority back under local public control

* Establishing local feed-in tariff programs that encourage small non-corporate players to become renewable energy providers – such as farms, local governments, and cooperatives

* Requiring all corporations doing business locally to meet strict renewable energy and waste stream standards

* Implementing democratic planning and decision-making authority at the neighborhood level

* Recognizing local natural areas as having enforceable rights to exist, flourish and evolve

* Recognizing the community’s right to clean air, water, and soil, the right to a stable climate, and the right to a sustainable energy future

* Prohibiting corporations doing business locally from directly participating in public forums and hearings

* Requiring agricultural corporations growing food locally to phase out their use of fossil fuel based fertilizers, insecticides, pesticides, etc, over five to ten years

* Requiring logging corporations doing business locally to implement ecoforestry practices within five to ten years

* Requiring local auto dealerships to prioritize fuel-efficient and electric vehicles, phased in over five to ten years

And last but not least….

* Prohibiting local media from accepting advertising from fossil fuel companies …..