The rights of nature laws recognize the rights of ecosystems and natural communities to exist, to flourish, to regenerate, and to evolve…nature laws move nature from being considered ‘property’ under the law to being recognized as ‘rights bearing’ under the law.

Existing environmental laws (Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, etc.) treat nature as property, such that the owner of that property effectively has the right to destroy the nature that exists on his property.

Similarly, slaves were treated as property under the law and a slave ‘owner’ had the right to destroy his ‘property.

Our existing structures of environmental law will not allow us to achieve anything close to true sustainability… in its place, we need to drive a fundamentally new legal structure forward.

(Source: ofmyloverthesea)

1:54 pm  •  27 January 2012  •  1 note

theatlantic:

Student Protests in Chile

For the past several months, students, teachers, and their supporters in Chile have been staging chaotic demonstrations against their government. Their goal is to transform the country’s education system. In particular, they’re seeking a referendum to significantly increase the funding and quality of public schools. Students have engaged in multiple forms of protest, from hunger strikes and sit-ins to marches and pillow fights. Smaller groups of protesters have engaged riot police directly, hurling stones and firebombs. Chilean authorities have responded by banning demonstrations, pushing protesters back with water cannons, and offering education proposals that have been rejected. Students in the tens of thousands — with popular backing across Chile — continue to march without official permission, and public sentiment against president Sebastian Piñera continues to grow.

Above: Students throw stones at a riot police vehicle, which was set alight by a molotov cocktail, during an anti-government rally in Valparaiso, on August 9, 2011. (Reuters/Eliseo Fernandez)

Not England…Chile. See more photos at In Focus

(via ladyurduja)

1:09 pm  •  22 August 2011  •  272 notes