Legal Rights for Nature

Transcription

1 ATTACHMENT 1 What s the Problem? Legal Rights for Nature Linda Sheehan, Executive Director California Coastkeeper Alliance City of Santa Monica Task Force on the Environment Santa Monica, CA December 20, 2010 Photo by John Wathen Continued polluting events, small to massive, even under modern laws Rates of species extinction climbing Our actions now affect even the global climate Example: California s Thirst Dry Scott Riverbed Dampened by River- Fed Sprinklers; Summer 09, Erica Terence Diversions are drying up California rivers Bay-Delta Estuary,, is collapsing Salmon, Delta smelt threatened with extinction, along with their predators SoCal water use tied to Delta health Example: California s Climate By end of the century: 60-80% of Sierra snowpack is gone Sea level will rise by five feet or more Saltwater intrusion into groundwater Delta lies below sea level, behind aging levees Impact of Modern Environmental Laws Cuyahoga River on Fire, Ohio 1952 James Thomas, Cleveland State University Environmental laws developed in 1970s out of oil spills, river fires, DDT, dead lakes Intent: Identify goals to protect environment; hold polluters to them Impact: Legalized pollution; slower but continued degradation Fundamental Flaw of Modern Environmental Laws John Muir, Wikimedia Commons Flaw: Humans over Nature foundation; inconsistent with actual interconnectedness with the natural world Pinchot defined U.S. conservation ethic at turn of century: controlled use of natural resources Contrast Muir: When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.

2 Fundamental Flaw (cont d) Severely endangered Delta smelt California Dep t of Water Resources Ecology was only an infant science when Humans over Nature became the national conservation policy Our laws allow human desire to take precedence over environmental need Pressures will only increase Fundamental Flaw (cont d) Cliff erosion threatens Pacifica, CA apartments, Wikimedia Commons Laws do not force us to assess and moderate our needs and behavior Especially in context of ecosystem needs Results: Flawed solutions (factory farms, ocean desalination) Pushback on endangered species (Delta smelt) Waterways diverted to dust New Path: Laws Reflect Integration of Humans and Natural World Hydraulic gold mining, CA Central Pacific Railroad History Museum Human society not inevitably governed by a policy of dominance over nature Indigenous California: ownership of water unheard of; used with respect Spanish brought dominance over nature, but shared for common benefit of humans Gold Rush upended law to first in time, first in right ; now dominance over other people as well as nature What Are the Elements of Legal Rights for Nature? Rights must be subject to redress by public body Entity must have standing to institute legal actions (guardian can act for entity) Redress must be calculated for entity s own damages Relief must run to the benefit of the injured entity Nature... has the right to exist, persist, maintain itself and regenerate its own vital cycles, structure, functions and its evolutionary processes. Ecuador Constitution, Art. 71 Steve Wacksman, Boston Globe, July 19, 2009 Legal Rights of Nature: Examples Mesoamerican Reef, Belize By ELAW (Env l Law Alliance Worldwide) Apr. 2010: Belize court found reef was not property, but a living thing entitled to damages from ship grounding 2008: Spanish Parliament grants rights to great apes to be free from abuse, torture and death

3 Legal Rights of Nature: Switzerland March 2010 Swiss vote on state-funded lawyers for animals in court; fails, but almost 30% vote yes April 2008 New rules cite inherent value of plants, immorality of arbitrary harm to them Legal Rights of Nature: Ecuador Article 71 from 2008 Constitution of Ecuador, documentos/constitucion_de_bolsillo.pdf 2007: Ecuador begins review of Constitution; concerns include pressure from multinationals to exploit their oil, biodiversity Working with CELDF, Ecuador developed rights of nature language; adopted by people Sept. 28, 2008 Ecuador Constitution Art. 71 Art. 71. Nature or Pachamama, where life is reproduced and exists, has the right to exist, persist, maintain itself and regenerate its own vital cycles, structure, functions and its evolutionary processes. Any person, people, community or nationality, may demand the observance of the rights of the natural environment before public bodies. The application and interpretation of these rights will follow the related principles established in the Constitution. Ecuador Constitution Art. 72 Sangay National Park, Ecuador Alfredobi, Wikimedia Commons Art. 72. Nature has the right to be completely restored. This complete restoration is independent of the obligation on natural and juridical persons or the State to compensate people or collective groups that depend on the natural systems. Legal Rights of Nature: Bolivia Kris Krug, April 2010 World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth, Cochabamba; over 35,000 from 140 nations Official proposal by Bolivia under UN Framework Convention on Climate Change brought to COP16 Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth Kris Krug, Earth is a living being. Each being is an integral part of Mother Earth. Earth and all beings have inherent rights to life, to exist, to play its role in Mother Earth for her harmonious functioning. Every human is responsible for respecting and living in harmony with Mother Earth.

4 COP 16 and the Rights of Mother Earth Social movements separated from discussions Bolivian Pres. Morales: It is time to debate rights of Mother Earth. These include the right to regenerate biocapacity, the right to life without contamination. What we do affects everyone Suwa, Nagano Prefecture, Japan Similar patterns worldwide Similar commitment to the environment, abundant lives, flourishing culture But: Lake Suwa receives industrial, sewage pollution (internal), and will be significantly affected by climate change (external) Legal Rights of Nature: United States Local Ordinances Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF), Assists interested communities with drafting, passing local ordinances Integrates rights of citizens to self-governance with rights of ecosystems California City Charters Provide significant opportunity to direct home rule Cal. Const. Art. XI charter city has supreme authority over municipal affairs Johnson v. Bradley, 4 Cal. 4 th 389 (1992) what is a municipal affair Is there a need for paramount state control in the particular area at issue Impediments to Progress Deepwater Horizon April Corporations are required to maximize profit; will cut costs to detriment of environment Balance sheets recognize only costs of regulations; corporation will try to reduce those costs Government subsidizes many harmful behaviors CELDF Example: Mt. Shasta An Ordinance to assert and secure the right of the people of the City of Mt. Shasta to natural water systems and cycles through the exercise of community self-government by... establishing strict liability and burden of proof standards for chemical trespass; by not allowing corporations to engage in water withdrawal for export and resale beyond the City of Mt. Shasta; by removing claims to legal rights and protections from corporations that would allow a few people hiding behind the corporate shield to subordinate the people and environment of the City of Mt. Shasta to them; and by recognizing and enforcing the rights of residents to defend the rights of natural communities and ecosystems.

5 CELDF Example: Blaine Township, PA Home Rule Charter Section 4103 Specific Purpose The specific purpose of this Article is to acknowledge the inalienable, fundamental rights of nature, and establish an enforcement system whereby People and communities can protect and vindicate the rights of nature against actions taken by corporations and other business entities. ROPOSEDED_HOME_RULE_CHARTER_for_BALINE,_ Aug,_2009.pdf Finances, Fees and Subsidies Financial statements reinforce people over nature and corporations over people Many such practices may be municipal affairs and are changeable Fees, subsidies affect behavior as well External Reach Proposal: Water Rights Held by Waterways Water creeps down dry San Joaquin River Josh Uecker, 2009 Proposal: Call on California Constitution ban on waste and unreasonable use to create water allocations for rivers, and change state law to assign rivers the rights, rather than solely people Use science to set flows Assign gov t-funded, independent guardians for rights Model: Murray-Darling Basin, Southeast Australia Proposal: Legal Right to Be Free from Pollution Chollas Creek, San Diego Photo by San Diego Coastkeeper Clean Water Act Section 101: national goal that discharge of pollutants into the navigable waters be eliminated by 1985 Add missing element: a legal, guardian-exercised right, held by waterways, to be free from pollution Use Technology to Show What Is Possible Stormwater captured with vegetated swales Show how legal rights for ecosystems can be achieved in practice with new approaches that respect nature Solar, LID, recycled materials, community gardens, etc. Parallel advocacy program seeking sound subsidies California Forest Sprite Summary We made choices in law, ethics, accounting, economics, science, and technology We can choose differently for ourselves, our children and the Earth Law and policy have always evolved over time; not static We must encourage and guide the evolution of law to embrace rights for the natural world Uywa: the natural world will in turn nurture us

6 Thank you. California Brown Pelicans Photo by Pete Nichols Linda Sheehan,