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Earth Law Center: Rights of Rivers
- 1. Earth Law: Rights of Rivers & Legal Education Grant Wilson – Directing Attorney gwilson@earthlaw.org Rights of Nature Australia 2018
- 2. About Me To halt the decline of an ecosystem, it is necessary to think like an ecosystem. -Douglas P. Wheeler
- 3. Does our legal system work for rivers? • Water = property. • Water rights owned by humans & corporations – never rivers. • Protections easily reversible. • Species teeter on the brink of extinction.
- 4. Impacts to Rivers • Over 50,000 large dams impacting 2/3 of all rivers. • Some rivers no longer reach the ocean – e.g., the Colorado. • 81% of freshwater species lost in 42 years (1970-2012).
- 5. Colorado River: Then & Now
- 8. Santa Ana Sucker • 1 • 2 • 3
- 9. Atoyac River - Mexico
- 10. Impacts to Humans • 3/10 people currently lack access to clean, available water at home. • Threats: Drought (climate change), chemical pollution, nutrient loading, inefficient and wasted water. • Health impacts: Cancer, respiratory disease, birth defects.
- 11. Rights of Nature: “E-Laws 2.0” Corrects flaws with legal system • Legal, inalienable rights to exist, thrive, and evolve. • Goal: “Thriving ecosystems” instead of “less degradation.” • Nature has a seat at the table. Rights are always evolving • Expansion of human rights. • Expansion of non-human rights.
- 12. Rights of Rivers (Western U.S. Perspective) Status Quo Rights of Rivers Paradigm Humans & corporations own water rights. Waterways can own “rights” to their own flows. Many rivers severely over-diverted. Minimum instream flows for all waterways to meet basic ecosystem needs. Few water conservation requirements. Water conservation is mandatory – e.g., “Best Available Technology” for heavy water users. Pollution is allowed or “permitted." Polluted waterways are restored to health as a right.
- 13. Whanganui River
- 14. Ganga & Yamuna Rivers
- 15. Atrato River
- 16. Earth Law Center’s River Work • UDRR (pictured right) creates a replicable model of the rights of rivers. • Active campaigns: 1. Mexico 2. US (e.g., Boulder) 3. Colombia 4. Nigeria 5. Serbia 6. France (daylighting) 7. Pakistan 8. And more
- 17. Earth Law Center’s River Work All rivers shall possess, at minimum, the following fundamental rights: (1) The right to flow; (2) The right to perform essential functions within its ecosystem; (3) The right to be free from pollution; (4) The right to feed and be fed by sustainable aquifers; (5) The right to native biodiversity; and (6) The right to restoration.
- 18. Tenochtitlan
- 19. Mexico City
- 20. Rio Magdalena & Atoyac - Mexico
- 21. River Ethiope - Nigeria
- 22. Boulder Creek Watershed - Boulder Rights of Nature
- 23. Serbia
- 24. Indus River - Pakistan
- 25. Anchicayá River - Colombia
- 26. Rights of Nature Education • Earth Jurisprudence Seminar, 2007 Center for Earth Jurisprudence • Earth Law course taught at VLS, 2013. • Earth Law Club at Vermont Law. • High school mock trials. • Legal training (e.g., WCEL). • Rights of nature events at law schools.
- 27. Federalist Society as a Model • 1982: founded by law students at Yale, Harvard, Chicago Law. • Today: 10,000+ law students, 60,000+ practicing attorneys • Rights of Nature to follow? Supreme Court justices, political candidates, etc.
- 28. Earth Law Textbook • Earth Law textbook in 2019. • Goals 1: Train the next generation of rights of nature lawyers. • Goal 2: Expose all legal professionals to the rights of nature.
- 29. Wisdom from Legal Interns “My philosophy is animist, my tool is legal action.” -Senami A. Houndete "The fate of the environment and our futures are so interconnected that to protect one is to ensure the other.” -Lauren Aboodi "Earth Law is the voice of our free flowing rivers and natural landscapes that need protection.” -Kristina Cowell “Earth is the spirit of everything and a teacher to all who listen.” - Mallory Russo
Editor's Notes
- 10 years law/policy International law Local law Had a lot of time working with environmental laws, but I ask you – are our laws adequately protecting nature?
- We treat our rivers as resources to fuel our economy. WATER – literally the essence of life – treated as PROPERTY. (Louisiana fish kill from eutrphiation Can’t imagine where we’d be without them. SQUEEZED EVERY LAST DROP OUT OF THESE LAWS. And I can’t image what amazing things our environmental advocates would do with laws that recognize nature as a legal entity possessing rights. WATER ERIGHTS: Only allow for human ownership of water rights; treats water as property; vastly over-allocated (paper water). Property rights often take precedent over river needs CWA: 8,100 violations of the CWA from Jan 2016 to Sept 2017 (nation’s largest industrial facilities) OK SO I’M GOING TO GO AHEAD AND SAY NO! 2. REVERSIBLE: We’ve seen this in the trump era. Rolling back Obama’s EPA clean car standards. Approval of Dakota Access Pipeline and Keystone XL Pipelines. Revoked a rule requiring the reporting of methane emissions. Revoked the "freeze and review" on new coal leases on public lands. Withdrew guidance for federal agencies to include GHGs in EIRs.
- OVERDIERSION. For six million years, the Colorado River ran its course from its soaring origins in the Rockies to a once-teeming two-million-acre delta, finally emptying 14 million acre-feet of fresh water into the Sea of Cortez. But now, a multitude of straws are drinking from the river, Mr. McBride notes in his documentary. Indeed, the Colorado River has not reached the sea since 1998 but ends rather in a cracked and desolate expanse of barren mud flats and abandoned boats — a “dry river cemetery,” as Mr. McBride puts it. Over 100 dams and thousands of miles of canals divert the river to nearly every farm, industry and city within a 250-mile radius of its banks. It is one of the most diverted and dammed rivers in the world.
- This is happening in theunited states – not just internationally…. THE MOST DAMMED, DIVERTED, AND MANIPULATED RIVER IN THE WORLD. 100 dams and thousands of miles of canals on the Colorado River. For 2 million years, it stretched from the Rockies to a 3,000 square miles delta on the Gulf of Mexico. Now, after 100 years or so or change, the Colorado River now rarely reaches the sea and the Delta is fewer than 250 square miles
- 3,000 square miels
- Water-treatment plant in Colton = no water when it shuts down. Santa Ana sucker fish
- Endangered species
- I met this river - do you know you should say I met it if we’re talking about a rights-baering entity? It’s good practice – in Mexico, and it’s completely dead with hundreds of factories dumping straight into the river + raw sewage. More than 70% of industraizlied waste and 80% of sewage in developing countries is discharged untreated
- QUESTION: And does anyone here think we separate are from the environment? Clearly no 3/10 people currently lack access to clean, available water at home. This is a crisis! A 2010 study published in Nature: The world's rivers are so badly affected by human activity that the water security of almost 5 billion people, and the survival of thousands of aquatic species, are threatened, scientists warned . -- with the highest threat levels in the world in the United States and Europe. 2 million tons of human waste is disposed in water bodies every single day. According to the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) for Water Supply and Sanitation, around 1.8 billion people worldwide drink fecally contaminated water Groundwater use 3.5x sustainable levels Up to 7 million people die each year from air pollution
- THE LAW CAN BEA BEAUTIFUL WHAT IF RIVERS WERE RECOGNIZED AS LIVING ENTITIES THAT POSSESSED RIGHTS? WHAT WOULD BE DIFFERENT? NAURE IS PART OF DEOMCRACU THE RIGHTS OF NATURE IS THE NEXT GREAT RIGHTS-BASED MOVEMENT We need to EVOLVE OUR LAWS to… We need to EVOLVE OUR LAWS to… We need to EVOLVE OUR LAWS to… GIVE NATURE A SEAT AT THE TABLE RIGHTS OF NATURE IS RTHE BLUEPRINT FOR RTHE NEXT GENEWRATION OF RIGHTS-BASED LAW -Slavery, womens rights, corporations…. 1971 last slave died. Women are alive today who were alive before they had the right to vote. -Is nature next? (KEEP SAYING THAT) RIGHTS, THEN NATURE IS NEXT (transition)
- FROM A WESTERN US WATER LAW PERSPECTIVE. What if rivers had rights What if rivers owned their own flows instead of it being property What if rivers had a right to flow freely, without mega dams? They do have all these rights – we are just beginning to recognize them. WE SEE THE SAME FLAWS IN WATER LAW COME UP OVER AND OVER. It’s like someone did their homework wrong and everyone else copied it. ALL OF these enforceable in a court – cannot be pushed aside for politics – they are inalienable rights!
- First river to have legal rights was the vilcabamba in ECUADOR perhaps you will hear more about today 2017, Whanganui Doesn’t it feel a bit different when you look at it? Does it feel special, or more profound? ”150+ year struggle by native Maori. Now they are the governing body to enforce the rier’s health This inspiring precedent puts a CHIP in the shackles we have put on nature
- Just 5 days later in 2017, the Uttrakhand High Court in India recognized the Ganges and Yamuna as “living entities” with fundamental rights Legal liability…. Well I think a river doesn’t have a legal duty to humans not to flood etc.
- GOLD MINING POLLUTION DEVESTATING LOCAL COMMUNITY Further, the Court said that although Colombia’s constitution does not explicitly mention the right to water, the right nevertheless exists because humans and ecosystems need water to live and thrive. PAUSE: DOES IT FEEL DIFFERENT (this river having rights?)
- As you can see, we’re working all throughout the world on rights of nature / rivers (don’t list the countries). We want to give legal rights to every 165 major river, then every creek, stream, lake. OUR GOAL IS TO GIVE LEGAL RIGHTS TO EVERY ONE OF THE LAST 165 RIERS… EVERUY LAST STREAM… EVERY LAST RIVER… EVERY LAST FOREST. What if rivers had a legal right to minimum flows? What if rivers had a legal right to be free from pollution? Wouldn’t be surprised if ppl were working on this in every country in the world. Anchicayá Indus UDRR: Translated into 4 languages now
- As you can see, we’re working all throughout the world on rights of nature / rivers (don’t list the countries). We want to give legal rights to every 165 major river, then every creek, stream, lake. OUR GOAL IS TO GIVE LEGAL RIGHTS TO EVERY ONE OF THE LAST 165 RIERS… EVERUY LAST STREAM… EVERY LAST RIVER… EVERY LAST FOREST. What if rivers had a legal right to minimum flows? What if rivers had a legal right to be free from pollution? Wouldn’t be surprised if ppl were working on this in every country in the world. Anchicayá Indus UDRR: Translated into 4 languages now
- An islnd in the middle of a lake! TEN-AUCH-TEET-LAWN ELC works with local partners (e.g., Cuatro al Cubo) to achieve fundamental rights for three rivers in Mexico. First on the list: the Magdalena (Mexico City) – the last free-flowing river in Mexico City of 45. Next on the list: The San Pedro Mezquital (threatened by the Las Cruces Dam project) and Atoyac (extremely polluted).
- Recognized rights of entire Colombian Amazon
- We got a law passed recognizing rights of rivers in Mexico city
- Nature as SACRED Deepest inland waterway in Nigeria DAFE IRIKEFE – Dafe, if you are listening, we are going to get legal rights for this river!
- BOULDER RIGHTS OF NATURE Give rights to the whole watershed This waterway is part of the essential fabric of this town, and we want to protect it for generations to come If you asked anyone in town if this river is property, they would say no – to many it is sacred So we are going to change its character under the law
- 800+ hydroelectric dams in Serbia (Drana River)… Earthg Thrive
- Pakistan Fisher Folk Forum (PFFF) Fisherman – not just environmentalists – we all need the river to thrive
- We are submitting amicus briefs across the world arguing for rights of nature At best, we win some cases At worst, we want every judge in major cases on rivers and other ecosystems to know about rights of nature WE ARE GOING TO KEEP GOING UNTIL EVERY SINGLE RIVER IS RECOGNIED AS A LEGAL PERSON.
- And I believe that RON resonates with law students and is an important piece of their education. Law students largely learn how to interpret the laws that we have, but I also think that it’s important to teach them how to write new, better laws – the ones that society and nature need but that we didn’t get done before.
- students at Yale Law School, Harvard Law School, and Chicago Law School , 5 Supreme Court Justices: Scalia, Roberts, Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch. Every federal judge appointed by Bush Sr. and Bush Jr. were either a member of the Federalist society or approved by them. : Who will be the first lawyer to earn rights for nature at the Supreme Court, or the first major political candidate in the US to run on a rights of nature platform?
- You will find out soon; I still have flashbacks! While targeted to law schools, the textbook will also be available for university courses and elsewhere. The goal is to train the next generation of rights of nature experts. Not too late to give a hand if you are interested! We have some great experts working on it, including leading rights of nature practioners, a close friend of Thomas Berry who pioneered the work, and so forth.
- They are really inspirational – next generation of frontlines practitioners – I hope you can join them.
- We must not feel restricted by what we have done, but rather we must feel empowered by what we can do. And I look forward to the day in which all of nature has legal rights recognized, here in crestone and worldwide – incuding every single river, every forest, every marine ecosystem, and all of nature. I believe this is going to happen within my lifetime. RIGHTS ARE THE GREATEST GIFT YOU CAN GIVE SMOETHING. THEY ARE PERMANENT, INALIENABLE. I WANT TO GIVE THE GIFT – THE ULTIMATE GIFT – OF RIGHTS TO NATURE. IF THEY HAVE NO QUESTIONS, I ASK QUESTIONS OF THEM – EG IDEAS ON HOW TO EMPOWER YOUR COMMUNITY TO CREATE A NEW PARADIGM… I’LL TAKE QUESTIONS DURING THE TALK……