About 13 years agoTamaqua Boroughin Pennsylvania passed an ordinance prohibiting corporations from dumping waste sludge into open-pit mines by mandating that any resident could sue on behalf of the “rights of natural communities and ecosystems.” Since then, more than three dozen communities across the United States have adopted similar Rights of Nature measures. Two years later, the Ecuador wrote the rights of nature into its new constitution.
While the idea of giving rights to the natural environment might sound strange, advocates point to other times in history when rights were extended to people, or entities, that also probably seemed pretty outrageous at the time to some people: think freeing slaves, or giving women the right to vote, or recognizing corporations as people.
We’re going to learn about this Rights of Nature Movement, and a local effort to get onboard by creating The Caloosahatchee River Bill of Rights. We're joined by Thomas Alan Linzey, he is Executive Director, and co-founder of the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, and its chief legal counsel. The CELDF is the driving force behind this Rights of Nature Movement globally. And, we're joined by Capt. Karl Deigert, he is treasurer of the environmental advocacy nonprofit Clean Water NOW, which is spearheading this local effort to give the river rights.
Thomas Alan Linzey will be leading a public workshop this Saturday, July 20th from 8:30 to 4:30 at KJ’s Fresh Grill Fort Myers. There will be another workshop on Sunday that is by invitation only. Click HEREto learn more.
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