A common belief of indigenous people throughout the world is that their relationship with nature is sacred and that we should treat our natural environment with dignity and reverence. One doesn’t have to look far to realize that our modern world does not have the same relationship with the Earth. Recent efforts around the world have sought to give rivers and forests “rights of nature” to protect its rights to be a healthy ecosystem and would give governments and other caretakers the ability to represent the natural world in a court of law. Assemblymember Patrick Burke is trying to do the same in New York State with his introduction of the Great Lakes Bill of Rights1 (GLBOR – Assembly bill A3604).
Burke is following in the footsteps of forward thinkers like Aldo Leopold. In his 1949 book, A Sand County Almanac2, the American ecologist advocated for a “land ethic” or a responsible relationship between people and the land they inhabit. Two decades later, University of Southern California law professor Christopher D. Stone wrote the legal thesis “Should Trees Have Standing? Law, Morality, and the Environment”3 which became a rallying point for the environmental movement right after the first Earth Day.
Rights of nature laws are gaining traction throughout the world.
Rights of nature laws are gaining traction throughout the world. In 2008, the people of Ecuador amended their constitution to recognize the inherent rights of nature, or Pachamama. In 2012, the government of New Zealand signed a treaty with the indigenous Māori Iwi recognizing the Whanganui River and its tributaries as a legal entity, “indivisible and living whole” with its own standing. In the United States, the City of Pittsburgh passed an anti-fracking law that included language common to rights of nature laws: “Natural communities and ecosystems… possess inalienable and fundamental rights to exist and flourish.” And voters in Orange County, FL (home to Disney World) passed a referendum, amending the county charter in 2020 with a rights of nature provision by an 8 to 1 margin.
Last November, voters in New York State overwhelmingly approved the Environmental Rights Amendment (ERA)4 which added the following amendment the State Constitution, “Each person shall have a right to clean air and water, and a healthful environment.” With this recent change to the State Constitution, you may wonder about the need for GLBOR. As explained by the Assemblymember’s office, the Environmental Rights Amendment gives rights to the people of New York to clean air and water. The Great Lakes Bill of Rights gives nature the rights to be clean.
GLBOR recognizes that no person, institution or government has the right to create irreversible changes to the lake’s ecosystem, which includes the waters that flow into them.
GLBOR recognizes that no person, institution or government has the right to create irreversible changes to the lake’s ecosystem, which includes the waters that flow into them. As the Assemblymember points out, “As climate change affects the Great Lakes, which accounts for over 20% of the world’s freshwater and over 80% of North America’s freshwater, it is up to us to take steps to protect this precious ecosystem. The damage is ours; the obligation is ours.”
The bill was originally introduced as the Lake Erie Bill of Rights back in 2019. The bill was introduced at the same time the citizens of Toledo, OH passed a referendum approving their city’s version of the Lake Erie Bill of Rights5. That bill, similar to the previously referenced Orange County referendum, was originally proposed due to toxic algae blooms in their source of drinking water fed by fertilizer runoff. Although the Toledo bill was struck down by a Federal Court as being unconstitutionally vague, the lessons learned from the court ruling have helped strengthen the proposal by Assemblymember Burke. Some of us remember hearing government officials declare in the late 1960’s that “Lake Erie is Dead.” Giving Lakes Erie and Ontario rights to exist and flourish is an obligation that we should embrace. It is a benefit to our natural habitat, but also a benefit to us all.
The Sierra Club Niagara Group Environmental Series will have a discussion on Rights of Nature legislation with Assemblymember Patrick Burke and a representative from the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) on July 20th.
CELDF has been at the forefront of Rights of Nature legislation for over 20 years and assisted Assemblymember Burke’s office in writing the GLBOR. For more information, visit niagarasierraclub.org or contact niagarasierra@gmail.com.
- celdf.org/2022/03/nys-assemblyman-patrick-burke-introduces-great-lakes-bill-of-rights
- www.aldoleopold.org/about/aldo-leopold/sand-county-almanac
- www.environmentandsociety.org/mml/should-trees-have-standing-law-morality-and-environment
- www.natlawreview.com/article/new-environmental-rights-amendment-to-new-york-constitution
- www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/2/26/18241904/lake-erie-legal-rights-personhood-nature-environment-toledo-ohio
For additional information, check out:
Video Documentary: “The Rights of Nature: A Global Movement”
Lead image: Lake Erie – Photo by Taylor Gilmore