CELDF

Tonight I went to a lecture at Queen's University given by two lawyers from the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund. It blew my doors off. They walked us through why state and federal powers prevent municipalities from legislating in opposition to fracking, massive hog farms, toxic waste incinerators, and other by products of our capitalist system, which end up in rural areas. They talked about how they spent years fighting within the current system, before thinking outside the box. They've arrived at a consitutional law theory that asserts the rights of nature, and the rights of communities to defend the rights of nature. Which pushes back against hundreds of years of federal and state domination of local decisions.

I can't do their talk justice. Here's just one snippet: "The only thing that environmental regulations regulate is environmetalists, because it makes us predictable. Corporations write the regulations. So they build our cage. We become fundraisers for the corporate law firms that are writing the regulations governing how we act."

They are hoping to find a council in Northern Ireland that is willing to be a renegade and challenge the status quo. I so hope they succeed.

Jan. 11