While Florida has various environmental organizations in place to “protect” the quality and quantity of springs’ minimum flows and levels, it clearly does not recognize a spring’s inherent right to exist and flow free from significant human disruption. The rules and regulations in place are of no avail if hydrological science is ignored and governmental bodies lack the political will to stop destructive practices that impede the water quality and quantity of the springsheds that feed the springs.

The current major threat facing Silver Springs is a consumptive use permit application to the St. Johns River Water Management District, submitted by Adena Springs Ranch, requesting to use over 13 million gallons a day to raise 10,000 head of cattle on 30,000 acres of land in Marion County. The property is located within the springshed of Silver Springs, a National Natural Landmark, and it comes at a time when the health of Silver Springs is already in jeopardy.

The flow of Silver Springs has declined 32% during the past decade. In addition, Silver Springs already suffers from the introduction of too much waste material and fertilizer run-off, which would only be increased by the manure and fertilizer from such a huge cattle operation.

This CUP application is merely the most recent example of the failure to recognize and enforce the natural limits of springs and springsheds. As a people, and as elected or appointed officials, we continue to fail to exercise the political will necessary to say “no” to economic activities that destroy the very basis of life. We must adopt laws based on the understanding that we cannot have a healthy economy unless the environment remains healthy.

Leading CEJ’s initiatives to protect the springs’ right to exist, flourish and thrive is Robert Williams. He will serve “of counsel” at CEJ while continuing to reside and work in Tallahassee. Rob is a great addition to CEJ, and his location in Tallahassee enhances CEJ’s presence in the State Capitol. I know you join us in welcoming Rob to CEJ.

Photo by Bill Belleville

Click here to view a short film from Equinox Documentaries highlighting the work of over 100 scientists who spent two weeks taking a survey of the Wekiva Basin.

Special thanks to producer Bob Giguere for giving us “the next best thing to being there.”

Photo by Jane Goddard

In the United States we are also approaching Earth Day, officially celebrated on April 22. Here at CEJ and Barry Law School we are celebrating a series of Earth Day events this week, focusing on water issues and conservation.  We are aware that World Water Day was just marked on March 22 with events worldwide.  We are also aware that the sixth World  Water Forum, organized by the World Water Council, which represents the interests of transnational companies and the World Bank, was held last week in Marseilles, France.  At the same time, the Alternative Water Forum was also held in Marseilles.  The focus of the Alternative Water Forum is to advocate for water conservation and citizen management of water and to fight the global market movement to privatize access to water.  I encourage you to read the report of Linda Sheehan, Executive Director of the Earth Law Center, who attended the Alternative Water Forum.

Of great concern is that some developed countries, such as Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, are seeking to remove language recognizing the “Human Right to Water and Sanitation,” adopted by the General Assembly and Human Rights Council in 2011, from the Zero Draft text which is being prepared for the Rio+20 conference to be held in Rio de Janeiro the end of June.  It is critically important that UN Member States not back away from their legally-binding obligations to respect, protect and fulfill the Human Right to Water and Sanitation as embodied in the two adopted resolutions.  It is also important that the negotiations for Rio+20 and the proposed “Green Economy” not lead to increased violations of the Human Right to Water and Sanitation through the introduction of mechanisms designed to implement markets, property rights, and trading regimes for water.

True sustainability for current and future generations must not only include respect for water as a human right, but also adoption of the public trust and protection of the commons doctrines to insure water’s right to exist, as well as the ability of other species and entities to have access to water.  

Obviously there is much work to be done to protect the steps we are taking to protect water as one of the primary sources for sustaining life.  At CEJ and Barry Law School, we remain committed to deepening our appreciation of water and its conservation.

Finally, we invite you to “spring forward” in checking out our new CEJ Facebook page at facebook.com/earthjuris and to “like” us!  We have many options for partnering with us.

Photo by Jane Goddard

The topic of her presentation is “At the Tipping Point: Defining an Earth Jurisprudence for Social and Ecological Justice.” Loyola Law Review is also publishing her latest article, Earth at the Tipping Point: Defining an Earth Jurisprudence for a New Human.

Professor Koons will share the podium with Dr. Robert Bullard, considered the “father” of Environmental Justice, and Lisa Garcia, Senior Advisor to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Professor Koons is a faculty advisor to the Center for Earth Jurisprudence and former co-chair of the governing committee. She teaches at the Barry University School of Law.

Earth at the Tipping Point: Defining an Earth Jurisprudence for a New Human explores the need for meaningful legal change to meet current social and environmental challenges. It begins by noting that  the early twenty-first century has been marked by momentous shifts. Protests for political and economic justice have gripped the globe. Aligned with contemporary movements for social justice are those claiming ecological equity for future generations and rights for nature. Respected scientists propose that Earth systems are shifting and are approaching or passing the tipping point in three significant areas: global warming, interference with the global nitrogen cycle, and loss of biodiversity.

The article then asks: What is the responsibility of the world’s systems of law and governance to meet these challenges? Clearly, a “business-as-usual” approach will yield more of the same: calamitous oil wars and oil spills, spiraling poverty and civil strife, mounting global warming, and the extinction of an unimaginable number of other-than-human species.

The article proposes that a meaningful response to the ecological and social challenges of this era requires a shift of thinking at the jurisprudential level. Tinkering with our present legal systems will not change the direction of the world as it advances toward collapse of countries and the planet’s major ecosystems. Instead, the transition to a just and sustainable future also requires the transformation of the jurisprudence underlying systems of law and governance. Because the relationship between humanity and Earth is the template for society, the starting point for a new jurisprudence should be principles governing the functioning of Earth.

The article then offers an approach to jurisprudence that inquires into the structure, purpose, assumptions, and values of law and governance for the well-being of humanity and the Earth community. Earth Jurisprudence is a developing field that rethinks law and governance from an Earth-centered perspective. To make the shift from the present systems of law and governance that are solely human-centered, Earth Jurisprudence draws from approaches both within and beyond existing law. In this transition, humankind takes its place as a member of the Earth community and exercises its proper role to establish legal systems that are just and sustainable for all members of the Earth community. In the process, humanity and human institutions will be transformed.

At the same time, CEJ is seeking a staff attorney to join us. The staff attorney will work with me and the other CEJ team members to implement CEJ’s mission, programs, and strategic initiatives to advance the legal protection of nature through education, advocacy, publications and networking. This position will participate in developing CEJ’s outreach to attorneys, public policy decision makers, the environmental community and other strategic partners in furthering an Earth jurisprudence context. Check out the full job description at www.barry.edu/jobs (location: School of Law – Orlando) if you are interested in applying or if you know someone who might want to apply.

We are celebrating the success of the recent Future Generations Conference as well. More than fifty lawyers, law students, and community members gathered for “True Wealth in a Green World,” which explored a definition of wealth that is economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable – one that includes the welfare, well-being and abundance of the larger community and not solely individual monetary wealth.

Keynote presenters Bill Belleville, an award-winning environmental writer and documentary filmmaker, Janelle Orsi, a “sharing lawyer” from California who co-directs the Sustainable Economies Law Center, and Janie Barrera, President and CEO of ACCION Texas, the largest non-profit microlender in the United States, provided diverse expressions of how the local community benefits from the well-being of caring for each other and the natural world. The panel presentations provided local examples of living more sustainably. Watch this website for the posting of video excerpts from the presentations.

Mark your calendars for the afternoon of Sunday, April 1, to join us for a Nature Journaling Workshop with Bill Belleville at the Lake Harney Wilderness Area in Geneva, Florida.  Participants will be guided in field journaling techniques at this 300-acre preserve, where they can observe a historic crossing of the Flagler Railroad, a Native American shell midden, bald eagle nests, oak hammocks, mixed hardwood swamps, and floodplain marshes.  Registration is $20.00 and each participant will receive a CEJ journal, a reusable water bottle, and a handout about the site that includes journaling techniques.  Copies of Bill Belleville’s award-winning book, Salvaging the Real Florida: Lost and Found in the State of Dreams, will be available for purchase and signing.   Download the Nature Journaling Workshop Flyer for more information, then register by calling (321) 206-5691 or by e-mailing acheveres@barry.edu.

I am also pleased to announce that CEJ is on Facebook!  We hope it will help our friends and partners stay connected to our events and activities.  So let us know that you “like” us!