Right to Life

It seems the indigenous Andean population in Bolivia has helped craft a new law (which is about to pass, apparently) that gives Mother Earth equal rights with humans. As reported by the Guardian UK, there are 11 rights explicitly given in this draft, including:
the right to life and exist
the right to continue vital cycles and processes free from human alteration; 
the right to pure water and clean air; 
the right to balance; 
the right not to be polluted; 
the right to not have cellular structure modified or genetically altered
and the right "to not be affected by mega-infrastructure and development projects that affect the balance of ecosystems and the local inhabitant communities"


It also gives local municipalities more control over regulating industry. What is there not to love about this? I am not actually a law-loving kind of person, but in a world where corporations can and do have personhood, where the owners of industry take what they want no matter the cost, this kind of movement is one way to start real change for people's health, both spiritual and physical. It in some ways seems limiting to declare the personhood of Mother Earth; but without it, legal systems don't and perhaps can't act against destruction. 

This nicely backs what other writers and environmental activists have long asserted: that there can be no human rights without protection of the earth and other non-human species. If humans destroy our land base, the very stuff of life itself for us, how can we have clean water to drink? Uncontaminated and adequate food? Adequate shelter? What then supports our connection with others?

And for those of us who are disturbed by the principle of religious or spiritual views controlling the government and justice systems, I ask you this: what part of this law actually harms any person who is not harming the earth, a "resource" shared by everyone? Really, as things go now, industry and globalization harm many. If you live by the belief of living freely and responsibly, harming none, enforcing protections on our environment that give nature actual legal rights gives people harmed by industry and corporations power to help themselves. No one is enforcing religious beliefs on non-believers, but rather environmental protections of the most fundamental kind.

I would support a move in the US that gave the environment equal rights with people. Not rights which exclude people - since people are part of ecosystems, too. There would be lots of legal wrangling about what "nature" really means, of course. And no industry would ever support it, but isn't that the point? There could be no nuclear power, no fracking, no strip mining, no uranium mining, no clear cuts, no genetically altered seeds, no Monsanto thugs. Toxic dumps could no longer be placed in poor communities, and indigenous populations and rural communities would have recourse to stop activities that pollute their lands and water. In fact, it's possible that companies may actually have to prove their practices cause no harm. Not a bad start.