Planet // Current TV

A new law of nature:Ecuador next week votes on giving legal rights to rivers, forests and air

Ecuador next week votes on giving legal rights to rivers, forests and air. Is this the end of damaging development? The world is watchingClare Kendall The

The South American republic of Ecuador will next week consider what many countries in the world would say is unthinkable. People will be asked to vote on Sunday on a new constitution that would give Ecuador's tropical forests, islands, rivers and air similar legal rights to those normally granted to humans. If they vote yes - and polls show that 56% are for and only 23% are against - then an already approved bill of rights for nature will be introduced, and new laws will change the legal status of nature from being simply property to being a right-bearing entity.

The proposed bill states: "Natural communities and ecosystems possess the unalienable right to exist, flourish and evolve within Ecuador. Those rights shall be self-executing, and it shall be the duty and right of all Ecuadorian governments, communities, and individuals to enforce those rights."

Thomas Linzey, a US lawyer who has helped to develop the new legal framework for nature, says: "The dominant form of environmental protection in industrialised countries is based on the regulatory system. Governments permit and legalise the discharge of certain amounts of toxics into the environment. As a form of environmental protection, it's not working.

"In the same way, compensation is measured in terms of that injury to a person or people. Under the new system, it will be measured according to damage to the ecosystem. The new system is, in essence, an attempt to codify sustainable development. The new laws would grant people the right to sue on behalf of an ecosystem, even if not actually injured themselves."

Until now, all legal frameworks have been anthropocentric, or people-based. To file an environmental lawsuit requires a person to provide evidence of personal injury. This can be extremely difficult. To provide a conclusive link, say, between a cancer and polluted drinking water is, legally speaking, virtually impossible.

The origins of this apparent legal tidal shift lie in Ecuador's growing disillusionment with foreign multinationals. The country, which contains every South American ecosystem within its borders, which include the Galapagos Islands, has had disastrous collisions with multi-national companies. Many, from banana companies to natural gas extractors, have exploited its natural resources and left little but pollution and poverty in their wake.

Now it is in the grip of a bitter lawsuit against US oil giant Chevron, formerly Texaco, over its alleged dumping of billions of gallons of crude oil and toxic waste waters into the Amazonian jungle over two decades.

It is described as the Amazonian Chernobyl, and 30,000 local people claim that up to 18m tonnes of oil was dumped into unlined pits over two decades, in defiance of international guidelines, and contaminating groundwater over an area of some 1,700 hectares (4,200 acres) and leading to a plethora of serious health problems for anyone living in the area. Chevron has denied the allegations. In April, a court-appointed expert announced in a report that, should Chevron lose, it would have to pay up to $16bn (£8.9bn) in damages.

Ecuador next week votes on giving legal rights to rivers, forests and air. Is this the... more

bansheewail
added this
3 years ago
|
34 comments

"FUTURE" ~ Free Environmental Music Video ~ Nashville Session Players

We recently released an environmental music video entitled "Future" that... more

aberdeen
added this
3 years ago
|
0 comments

The end of the world, live!

If (or, when) the big asteroid hits us and takes us out of existence, it will be to... more

abbym0308
added this
3 years ago
|
12 comments

10 things you don't know about the Earth

From the guys at Bad Astronomy, here's a list of interesting factoids about the... more

abbym0308
added this
3 years ago
|
9 comments

Beyond Limits 2008 Sculptures (photos)

Photos from Chatsworth House in England on September 4, 2008.

ebindelglass
added this
3 years ago
|
0 comments

Scientists discover object that orbits sun backwards

A University of B.C. astronomer is among an international team of scientists who have... more

urlspotter
added this
3 years ago
|
0 comments

Air Fresheners' Unlisted Ingredients- Over 100 Chemicals NOT LISTED

"Laundry detergents and air fresheners have long promised to keep your house and... more

DeliaTheArtist
added this
3 years ago
|
0 comments

Oceanic dead zones continue to spread

"More bad news for the world's oceans: Dead zones—areas of bottom waters too oxygen depleted to support most ocean life—are spreading, dotting nearly the entire east and south coasts of the U.S. as well as several west coast river outlets.

According to a new study in Science, the rest of the world fares no better—there are now 405 identified dead zones worldwide, up from 49 in the 1960s—and the world's largest dead zone remains the Baltic Sea, whose bottom waters now lack oxygen year-round.

This is no small economic matter. A single low-oxygen event (known scientifically as hypoxia) off the coasts of New York State and New Jersey in 1976 covering a mere 385 square miles (1,000 square kilometers) of seabed ended up costing commercial and recreational fisheries in the region more than $500 million. As it stands, roughly 83,000 tons (75,000 metric tons) of fish and other ocean life are lost to the Chesapeake Bay dead zone each year—enough to feed half the commercial crab catch for a year.

Fertilizer contains large amounts of nitrogen, and it runs off of agricultural fields in water and into rivers, and eventually into oceans.

This fertilizer runoff, instead of contributing to more corn or wheat, feeds massive algae blooms in the coastal oceans. This algae, in turn, dies and sinks to the bottom where it is consumed by microbes, which consume oxygen in the process. More algae means more oxygen-burning, and thereby less oxygen in the water, resulting in a massive flight by those fish, crustaceans and other ocean-dwellers able to relocate as well as the mass death of immobile creatures, such as clams or other bottom-dwellers. And that's when the microbes that thrive in oxygen-free environments take over, forming vast bacterial mats that produce hydrogen sulfide, a toxic gas.

"The primary culprit in marine environments is nitrogen and, nowadays, the biggest contributor of nitrogen to marine systems is agriculture. It's the same scenario all over the world," Diaz says. "Farmers are not doing it on purpose. They'd prefer to have it stick on the land."

In addition to fertilizers, the other primary culprit is the consumption of fossil fuels. Burning gasoline and diesel results in smog-forming nitrogen oxides, which subsequently clear when rain washes the nitrogen out of the sky and, ultimately, into the ocean."

Much more at link!"More bad news for the world's oceans: Dead zones—areas of bottom... more

DeliaTheArtist
added this
3 years ago
|
41 comments

2008 1,300 Mile Kayaking Odyssey: Young Wisconsin couple circumnavigating Lake Superior

(Marquette, Michigan) - It’s a 1,300 mile, two month odyssey - kayaking around... more

Yoopernewsman
added this
3 years ago
|
3 comments

Green News Update

To help offset rising food costs, around 1, 000 families in the Kiang Valley, Malaysia... more

thekingbeyond
added this
3 years ago
|
0 comments

Urban farming flourishes in Detriot, USA

The goal of the Detroit/Michgan based charity Urban Farming, is to turn unused city... more

thekingbeyond
added this
3 years ago
|
0 comments

Barely Alive, Seafloor Microbes Might Resemble Exo-Organisms

Deep below the sea floor live massive colonies of primitive microbes. Almost like... more

mundosanto
added this
3 years ago
|
0 comments

The fourth dwarf planet has a name: Makemake - Science Fair - USATODAY.com

The 4th dwarf planet has a new name: Makemake. Click the link for more information.

hcoteen2008
added this
3 years ago
|
0 comments

The devastation of the rain forest

About 22% of the earth's original forest coverage remains. Western Europe has lost 98% or so of its primary forests; Asia 94%; Africa 92%; Oceania 78%; North America 66%, and South America 54%. Approximately 45% of the world's tropical forests, originally covering 1.4 billion hectares, have disappeared in the last few decades.

One and one-half acres of rainforest are lost every second with tragic consequences for both developing and industrial countries. Rainforests are being destroyed because the value of rainforest land is perceived as only the value of its timber by short-sighted governments, multi-national logging companies, and land owners

Nearly half of the world's species of plants, animals and microorganisms will be destroyed or severely threatened over the next quarter century due to rainforest deforestation.

Experts estimates that we are losing 137 plant, animal and insect species every single day due to rainforest deforestation. That equates to 50,000 species a year. As the rainforest species disappear, so do many possible cures for life-threatening diseases. Currently, 121 prescription drugs sold worldwide come from plant-derived sources. While 25% of Western pharmaceuticals are derived from rainforest ingredients, less that 1% of these tropical trees and plants have been tested by scientists.

There were an estimated ten million Indians living in the Amazonian Rainforest five centuries ago. Today there are less than 200,000.

The Amazon Rainforest has been described as the "Lungs of our Planet" because it provides the essential environmental world service of continuously recycling carbon dioxide into oxygen. More than 20 percent of the world oxygen is produced in the Amazon Rainforest.

More than half of the world's estimated 10 million species of plants, animals and insects live in the tropical rainforests. One-fifth of the world's fresh water is in the Amazon Basin.

At least 80% of the developed world's diet originated in the tropical rainforest. Its bountiful gifts to the world include fruits like avocados, coconuts, figs, oranges, lemons, grapefruit, bananas, guavas, pineapples, mangos and tomatoes; vegetables including corn, potatoes, rice, winter squash and yams; spices like black pepper, cayenne, chocolate, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, sugar cane, tumeric, coffee and vanilla and nuts including Brazil nuts and cashews.

The Brazilian government is currently trying to protect its section of the rainforest, but it can not stop huge multinational companies from coming in a doing illegal logging.
About 22% of the earth's original forest coverage remains. Western Europe has... more

thekingbeyond
added this
3 years ago
|
1 comment

Shrinking planet

Mercury, the smallest planet in the Solar System since Pluto was deemed not to be a... more

Vierotchka
added this
3 years ago
|
1 comment

Saving Our Youth

Revolutionary Sista Damali Abrams and BETJ Host Abiola Abrams discuss what's... more

Sashalicious
added this
3 years ago
|
9 comments

Greenpeace: Supermarkets harming ocean wildlife

The environmental group says the grocery stores, need to own up to their share of... more

urlspotter
added this
3 years ago
|
0 comments

Astronomers' findings suggest Earth-like planets may be very common

European researchers havediscovered a batch of three "super-Earths" orbiting... more

SpookyFish
added this
3 years ago
|
3 comments

CO2 emissions may rise 130%, oil demand 70%: International Energy Agency

"A leading energy body is calling for a $45 trillion (£23 trillion) green... more

brillfilms
added this
3 years ago
|
3 comments

Mysterious skies

The roof of our planet is amazingly mysterious as this collection of photos show.

born4thesurf
added this
3 years ago
|
0 comments

select your country

Community Spotlight

TAGS

tagged w/ Planet

top videos

find current on tv

find current online

recent comments

© 2012 Current TV, LLC All Rights Reserved

the basics

follow us online

tools

stay in touch

© 2012 Current TV, LLC
All Rights Reserved