The Rights of Nature Sponsors: Maureen Doyle and Frank Jeffers from the Ecoaction Committee of GPUS and members of the MA GRP
VETTING COMMITTEES: this needs to be voted on by the state committee of the GRP to be included in our charter.
FLOOR MANAGER: Maureen Doyle
SHEPARD: Maureen Doyle
SUMMARY: "It is evident in conditions throughout the United States that our environmental regulatory system has failed to adequately protect our natural ecosystems upon which our health and lives depend. " The interfering with nature's regulatory system has allowed many environmental hazards that have caused health issues to humans , ecosystems, and other animals. The Green party needs to stand up and defend our life-giving nature. The GPUS accepted this document (see attached) into its platform in 2021. The state of Ma Green- Rainbow party , an affiliate of the Green Party, should endorse it and incorporate it as well. Here is a statement from Winona LaDuke, two-time Green Party vice presidential candidate, in her 2016 speech, Native Rights and the Rights of Nature, "It logically follows that recognizing the rights of our domestic natural ecosystems is both correct and necessary to help safeguard a healthy future for all our communities, for our children and grandchildren. ...We need to transform from the rights of corporations to the rights of nature. It’s going to take a lot to change the system.”
BACKGROUND: The duopoly parties (Republican and Democrat) solely defend economic rights and see nature as something that humans can use as they wish to achieve their economic goals. The Green Party is the only major party in the USA that stands for “people, peace, and planet” , defending nature as well bas the Earth's inhabitants. By endorsing this statement, the GRP accepts their role in protecting the planet that we all live on.
TEXT OF PROPOSAL: Rights of Nature We support the adoption of local, state, and federal laws which recognize the legal rights of natural communities and ecosystems - including wetlands, streams, rivers, aquifers, and other water systems - to exist, flourish, regenerate, naturally evolve, and be restored. We support the inclusion in those laws of the ability of people and communities to file legal actions in the name of the affected natural community or ecosystem, and for courts to require restoration of the natural community or ecosystem back to its pre-damaged state.
IMPLEMENTATION: The state committee of the Green-Rainbow party needs to vote to accept this document and to add it to their charter. The Communications Committee can help publicize it.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: I don't believe there would be any costs involved in this implementation and adoption.
REFERENCES AND ATTACHMENTS: The first link is a slideshow illustrating why we need this statement. The other is the complete Rights of Nature platform to the GPUS given by Ecoaction member Lizzie Adams.
* Rights of Nature Slideshow https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vTSY2jzboyXDey2amCfnYLs18RRs-n91byQn3xL8PLvX6ved9GOO9ODkCdmUP9bpcC7YO5DIKEaBi7Y/pub?start=true&loop=false&delayms=30000
* EcoAction Committee’s GPUS Platform Proposal for Rights of Nature Addition https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vTTNe7oJ9-noPXHLxgnGm2UIuVR95Ln_TdO_Vxi0kIoVSIgHAKsySOPXmnkvO6RI0ySu-_to8bYWGeo/pub
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FacebookI do generally agree with the content of the proposal. As an attorney, I can say that environmentalists are sometimes at a disadvantage because we lack standing to initiate or intervene in environmemntal legal actions, necessitating the need for recognition of “rights of nature.” If we are talking about something already included in the GPUS platform, there is a question if it is redundant to include it in our party agenda, since our agenda does not have the breadth to contain the entire GPUS Platform. Perhaps if we are talking about inclusion in the GRP Party agenda the statement could be limited to recognition of the rights of nature in Massachusetts and municipal law.