05/14/2012 - The relationship of humans to the natural world — from understanding our origins to dealing with contemporary issues of food security and property rights — will be explored in an intriguing four-part conversation series with Hawaiian and Western scholars and activists, starting tomorrow at Maui Arts & Cultural Center. “Man/Woman and Nature: Restoring the Balance,” presented by MACC and Ala Kukui, begins with “Rights of Nature,” a discussion by Kaua‘i native Kapua Sproat, director of the UH Environmental Law Clinic and counsel for Earthjustice’s Mid-Pacific Office, and Thomas Linzey, co-founder and executive director of the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund.

05/08/2012 - Though sludge has made its first appearance on one Lower Mount Bethel Township farm, supervisors may look to a legislative remedy to make sure there's no encore....On Monday night, supervisors listened to a presentation from Ben Price, a project director with the Mercersburg, Pa.-based Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, who informed them of possible steps to prevent further sludge application in the township....Price told supervisors Monday that with the help of his agency, an ordinance could be drafted stressing "rights-based" reasons for why sludge should not be permitted on township farms. Price argued that if the township believes sludge to be harmful and detrimental to members of its community, an ordinance banning it could be implemented.

05/05/2012 - Drawing upon this nation’s Declaration of Independence as inspiration, Dr. J. Stephen Cleghorn, co-founder of the 50-acre Paradise Gardens and Farm organic farm that sits above the Marcellus Shale formation, is holding a press conference to declare—in defiance of any established laws which say otherwise—that his farm shall never be violated from above or below by unconventional shale gas drilling. He will seal his declaration upon the scattering of ashes that are all that is left of the farm’s co-founder, his late wife Dr. Lucinda Hart-González, who died of cancer in November 2011....Cleghorn will stand his ground against the corporate tyranny that is poisoning the state’s water and air while sickening its people and animals. “We need a new paradigm for how we live on this Earth,” states Cleghorn. “Let’s have a little rebellion. Individual acts of resistance such as mine are but part of an ongoing movement and organization to create a new foundation of law based on the Rights of Nature.”

05/03/2012 - BROADVIEW HEIGHTS: Doug Shields didn’t stand before Broadview Heights City Council with the famous Nike slogan “Just Do It” emblazoned across his chest. But that was his message. The former Pittsburgh councilman challenged council at its April 30 work session to follow in his footsteps and stand up to state lawmakers who allow oil companies to drill within the city. “The state put a law through that preempted your authority as a municipal official to look after the health, welfare and public safety of this community. So what are you going to do about it?” Shields asked council. “Your citizens in this town have no say over what happens in their back yards.”