Nature’s Rights Are Coming Soon

By FRANK LINGO

Among the many myths in the Bible, there is the assertion that man has dominion over the Earth. Dominion, similar to domination, anoints and aggrandizes humans to a level of power we don’t handle responsibly. The Bible also told us to go forth and multiply. Not a Commandment, mind you, just advice from elders.

Neither the dominion nor the multiplying has worked out well. Humans now number about eight billion, spread to every cranny and continent. We are an invasive species, with few natural predators to keep our population in check, unless you count an occasional virus. And we’ve left a trail of death and devastation in our wake.

We humans highly regard our rights. The great experiment of the American Revolution was based on rights for people, a novel idea 250 years ago. Even today in the 21st century, human rights are denied to about half of humans – those who live in dictatorships. So many of our own kind lack the kindness of rights. But now another ambitious notion is needed – nature’s rights.

Such concepts were given hope by the December 2022 conference on International Environmental Law in Oslo, Norway. At least it’s a start that over 400 judges, lawyers and professors discussed transformative legal tools and governance approaches to address the climate crisis and biodiversity losses.

An example is the Salmon vs. Seattle case covered by Salon in May 2022. The Sauk-Suiattle Tribe took the municipality to court on behalf of the salmon population. After failing to get legal reparations for the fish from damage by dams, the tribe claimed the dams violated the fish’s fundamental right to thrive. Unfortunately, the case was dismissed, and then the dismissal was affirmed on Dec. 30, 2022, by the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals.

It’s not a new proposal to protect the natural world. For centuries there have been advocates for proper treatment of other species. But their protests have mostly fallen on deaf ears, like the few advocates for abolition before the Civil War.

There have been rare positive pronouncements by people in powerful positions: “Trees have judicial standing, and probably grass, too,” said the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas.

If only it were true. However, lately the movement for nature’s rights has gained momentum. Younger generations around the globe have started to see what their parents and grandparents couldn’t - that all species have a right to live. The Woodstock Generation heard the warning Joni Mitchell sang half a century ago: “They paved Paradise and put up a parking lot.” But as a group we failed to quell the carnage.

In 2017, Canadian author David Boyd released his paperback “The Rights Of Nature – A Legal Revolution That Could Save The World.” Boyd notes that in Hawaii and India, judges have recognized that endangered species – from birds to lions – have the legal right to exist; and around the world more laws are recognizing that ecosystems – rivers, forests, mountains and more – have legally enforceable rights.

How much does nature need the help? A 2019 report by the United Nations estimates that a million species of plants and animals are in danger of extinction from the effects of humans. One million!

The UN report states that 75% of the Earth’s land has been severely altered by humans, like clear-cutting forests; and 66% of the oceans have suffered significant human impacts — leaving over 400 dead zones that are reduced to green slime, as well as floating islands of plastic trash.

Some humans say something like “We need to take care of the world for our children and grandchildren.” OK, but that is still a very Biblical and paternalistic view of how to interact with the system that sustains our existence. It’s better to protect all species, not just our beloved pets or the ones we kill for our supper.

Here is another quote from Justice Douglas that would be wise to follow: “To be whole and harmonious, man must also know the music of the beaches and the woods. He must find the thing of which he is only an infinitesimal part and nurture it and love it, if he is to live.”

Frank Lingo, based in Lawrence, Kansas, is a former columnist for the Kansas City Star and author of the novel “Earth Vote.” Email: lingofrank@gmail.com. See his website: Greenbeat.world

From The Progressive Populist, March 15, 2023

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