{"id":45078,"date":"2019-10-23T06:00:46","date_gmt":"2019-10-23T10:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?p=45078"},"modified":"2019-10-20T17:44:54","modified_gmt":"2019-10-20T21:44:54","slug":"nature-rights-vs-natural-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2019\/10\/nature-rights-vs-natural-rights\/","title":{"rendered":"Nature Rights vs. Natural Rights"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

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We keep extending the concept of \u201crights\u201d\u2013from human rights to animal rights and now to nature rights.\u00a0 The concept that nature itself and natural entities\u2013such as rivers, oceans, trees, mountains\u2013have rights is becoming more and more prominent in the environmental movement.\u00a0 This is not just as an ideology but as a strategy for lawmaking, since whatever has rights is entitled to legal protection.<\/p>\n

Two years ago\u00a0we blogged about<\/a>\u00a0this idea.\u00a0 It may seem strange to think that trees and rivers have rights, just as human beings do.\u00a0 But\u00a0 the idea is making inroads around the world.<\/a>\u00a0 Among other examples<\/a>, the entire nation of Ecuador has officially embraced the concept, and Sweden is considering enshrining the rights of nature in its constitution.\u00a0 In the United States, some 40 jurisdictions<\/a> have written the rights of nature into law, including cities such as Pittsburg and Toledo and various county governments.<\/p>\n

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Now the Florida Democratic Party<\/a> has made the rights of nature part of its platform, which calls for\u00a0\u201crecognizing and protecting the inherent rights of nature, as we have done for corporations.\u201d<\/p>\n

So what are the rights of nature?\u00a0 The\u00a0Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature<\/a>\u00a0explains:<\/p>\n

Rights of Nature<\/strong>\u00a0is the recognition and honoring that Nature has rights.\u00a0\u00a0It is the recognition that our ecosystems \u2013 including trees, oceans, animals, mountains \u2013 have rights just as human beings have rights. Rights of Nature is about balancing what is good for human beings against what is good for other species, what is good for the planet as a world.\u00a0 It is the holistic recognition that all life, all ecosystems on our planet are deeply intertwined.<\/p>\n

Rather than treating nature as property under the law, rights of nature acknowledges that nature in all its life forms has\u00a0the\u00a0right to exist, persist, maintain and regenerate its vital cycles<\/em>.<\/p>\n

And we \u2013 the people \u2013 have the legal authority and responsibility to enforce these rights on behalf of ecosystems. The ecosystem itself can be named as the injured party, with its own legal standing rights, in cases alleging rights violations.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here is how that would apply to rivers, according to a proposal to revise the charter of Florida\u2019s Orange County:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Wekiva River Ecosystem and the Econlockhatchee River Ecosystem possess rights, including but not limited to, rights to naturally exist, flourish, regenerate, evolve and restoration; the right to carry out their natural function; the right to abundant, pure, unpolluted water, the right to natural groundwater recharge and surface water recharge; the right to natural water flow; the right to a healthy, natural, biodiverse environment; and the right to be free of activities or practices, as well as obstructions, that interfere with or infringe upon these rights.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Furthermore, giving teeth to the provision,\u00a0\u201cAny government entity or nonnatural person that violates any provision of this section shall be liable for any damages caused to an ecosystem named in this section as a result of the violation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wesley J. Smith<\/a> believes these principles will make their way into the national Democratic platform and warns about their legal ramifications:<\/p>\n

Make no mistake: \u201cNature rights\u201d isn\u2019t about stopping pollution. Rather, it allows\u00a0anyone<\/em>\u00a0to sue to protect nature\u2019s supposed right to \u201d exist, persist, maintain and regenerate its vital cycles, structure, functions and its processes in evolution.\u201d That\u2019s akin to a right to life. (Apparently, human fetuses aren\u2019t considered part of nature.)\u00a0That means any use of the natural world that disturbs what would otherwise exist in the wild is subject to legal attack.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n