NPR: The Takeaway: Should a Lake Have Legal Rights?

May 10, 2022

The Rights of Nature and the Florida Courts

Listen to the recent episode of The Takeaway on the first case to be brought by waterways to enforce their legal rights.

In Orange County, Florida, voters approved of a law in 2020 protecting the legal rights of all waterways. The interview includes CDER partner Chuck O’Neal who is serving as a human co-plaintiff along, with several waterways in Orange County that are seeking to enforce their right to exist. The waterways face development - authorized by the State of Florida - that would destroy acres of wetlands. Attorney Steven Meyers, who is representing the waterways and O’Neal, is also interviewed.

The Center for Democratic and Environmental Rights is currently working with O’Neal and Meyers on this first U.S. “Rights of Nature” enforcement case: Wilde Cypress Branch et al. v. Beachline South Residential, LLC and Noah Valenstein, Secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

To learn more about this case, check out our recent webinar available here.