Germain-an advocate for a first-in-the-nation 2008 law that barred corporate water extractions in Barnstead, New Hampshire-denounced the DNC’s interest in establishing a commission as “disingenuous,” charging that its failure to “challenge the corporate stranglehold on policy is evident in omissions from the platform.”Įven some Democrats, such as New Hampshire State Rep. Trask added that if Democrats decide to launch a Rights of Nature commission in the future, they must remain committed to grassroots organizers’ demands and “engage a deep outreach campaign,” underscoring the importance of involving Indigenous Hawaiians, Alaska Natives, and Indian Nations.ĭiane St. At best, their voices and concerns would be marginalized.” At worst Indigenous peoples and grassroots environmental groups would be left out. Mililani Trask, an attorney and leader in the Hawaiian sovereignty movement, warned that such commissions can “merely reflect the political system-and water down more transformative demands. The question is whether the DNC is ready to embrace the idea that humans are part of-and not owners of-the natural world, and whether their interpretation of Rights of Nature would dilute its framework of revolutionary change. Rights of Nature requires policy and business decision-making based on the needs of the ecosystem as a whole, which will mean a massive and necessary shift of how business is done, including how communities of color are targeted for the most polluting projects. Rights of Nature is deep system change, not tinkering at the margins of a rigged system. “In theory, a Rights of Nature commission is a step in the right direction of environmental justice but in reality, a corporate-friendly DNC platform could derail the real work and advances of the global and national Rights of Nature movement,” explained Pennie Opal Plant, co-founder and Indigenous Program director of Movement Rights. While some members of the movement welcome the party’s partial embrace of the Rights of Nature push, many also remain concerned that Democratic politicians could diminish the legal arguments or co-opt aspects of the political fight. That message, and concerns that a commission created by Democratic leadership would be “sanitized for the political system,” were shared by several other Rights of Nature advocates. “We cannot lose track of the fact that grassroots organizers are pushing this conversation, and the creative approaches to new governance,” Miller emphasized. The Ohio city ultimately allowed the historic legislation to die in court this May, but the measure still garnered international acclaim as “the first law on United States settler colonial land to recognize the rights of a specific ecosystem,” according to CELDF. Miller, a Toledo resident, was involved with the Lake Erie Bill of Rights effort. law.Īlthough the final platform-which disappointed climate and environmental campaigners on various fronts-didn’t include the panel’s commission proposal, organizer Markie Miller said Friday “the fact that the DNC is contemplating this is a testament to the bravery of local communities willing to take action.”
politics, highlighting that in June the Democratic National Committee Council on the Environment and Climate Crisis included in its 2020 platform recommendations creating a Rights of Nature commission like the President’s Council on Sustainable Development to explore incorporating the movement’s principles into U.S.
In a Friday statement from CELDF, advocates detailed developments this year in U.S. “We’re talking about creating a guardianship so that ecosystems can be seen in court as more than just a place to stick the next future Superfund site-and this idea isn’t new, it’s been around for millennia.” “Now we’re not talking about giving every tree a lawyer,” noted the video from CELDF, which supports treating ecosystems as living communities.