One of the first things an elected official does upon taking office is to swear an oath to uphold and defend the U.S. Constitution. Unfortunately for local communities and the environment, the Commerce Clause, which gives Congress the power “to regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states…” is an integral part of […]
A principal goal of environmental regulatory agencies is to grant permits that enable corporations to legally pollute our air, water and even to destroy whole ecosystems. So it comes as no surprise that the FEIS (Final Environmental Impact Statement) released by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission found, in summary, that construction of the Jordan Cove LNG export terminal and […]
Given a FERC Final Order regarding Jordan Cove is expected in November 2019 it is good that Wim DeVriend has reminded us that local citizens who don’t stand to lose their property to eminent domain enabled a foreign corporation to interfere in a local election that would have protected landowners who are threatened by the […]
“We are going to defend our property rights like any other property owner would. That means defending our rights under the state and federal constitutions.” Those following the heroic efforts to stop the proposed Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline might attribute these words to any one of the more than 600 affected landowners along the […]
Published on Wednesday, May 04, 2016 by Common Dreams by Andrea Germanos, staff writer For one community attempting to stop fracking wastewater injection wells, civil disobedience just became a sanctioned civic right. The community is Grant Township, Pa., which, in November 2015, had fought off the Pennsylvania General Energy Company (PGE) and the Pennsylvania Independent Oil and Gas Association […]
“Extending standing to the real party at risk of harm — the environment — would preserve “priceless bits of Americana” before they become “forever lost or are so transformed as to be reduced to the eventual rubble of our urban environment.” US Supreme Court Justice William Orville Douglas During an especially heated primary debate […]
The more I engage in community rights work the more sense the right of local self-government makes to me. Whether it is banking regulators, energy regulators or environmental regulators the working class communities are getting the short end of the stick because the industry writes the rules. One of the main rules is that communities […]
By John Fett Roseburg The World editorial about maintaining civil discourse was brought to my attention, along with another opinion written by Mark Wall. First, I want to thank the paper for making the right decision not to publish an ad depicting the Salem anti-LNG protesters as unpatriotic because one guy was standing on a […]
The Coos County Right to a Sustainable Energy Future Ordinance notes that the adoption of the ordinance will call for an amendment of the Oregon Constitulion and the federal constitution to confirm the existing right to local self-government free from governmental preemption and or nullification by corporate “rights.” The Oregon Community Rights Network (ORCRN) has […]
More than 160 ordinances banning unsustainable and harmful development have been adopted in communities around the US using the right of local self-government. Out of that number only 9 have been challenged. Five of those did not include a bill of rights like the Coos County initiative and the elected officials caved to pressure from […]
