How a Community Loses it's Voice...

Communities are stuck inside a box.

#1 State Preemption

State legislatures enact laws that remove authority from communities and define the legal relationship between the state and municipalities as that of a parent to a child. This deprives communities of their own rights.

Ex: The state regulates (permits!) aerial spraying of poisons, so communities are not able to stop it from happening.

#2 Nature as Property

Nature is considered property by law, meaning anyone with title to property has the legal right to destroy it. This allows the actions of a few to impact the entire ecosystem of a community.

Ex: Timber Corporations can come into a community and clear-cut hundreds of acres, impacting the water and air, with no repercussions. 

#3 Corporate Privilege

Often referred to as corporate “rights” or corporate “personhood,” it means that corporations claim “rights” to protections of free speech (1st amendment/ money as speech), protections from search and seizure (4th amendment), due process and lost future profits (5th amendment Takings clause) and equal protection (14th amendment). Contracts clause protections, civil rights laws, and commerce laws, further amplify corporate power to override local decision-making.

#4 The Regulatory Fallacy

The permitting process, and the regulations supposedly enforced by regulatory agencies, are intended to create a sense of protection and objective oversight. By working through regulatory agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and our state agencies, we’re told we can protect our community. We can challenge permit applications and demand regulations be enforced. When they issue permits, they give cover/protection to the applicant against liability to the community for the legalized harm.

Ex: Regulatory agencies regulate the amount of harm that takes place, creating "safe levels" of poisons/polluntants in the water, air and soil.