Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund
Promoting a Government for the People
When mining corporations announced plans to bring longwall coal mining to rural Blaine Township in Southwestern Pennsylvania, the Vice-Chairman of the Planning Commission, Mike Vacca, reminded residents of how longwall mining had demolished homes, rivers, and farmland in neighboring communities over the past decade. When residents of those communities tried to protect their homes, he recalled how corporations used state and federal mining laws to preempt local, community control.To stop mining in their area, Blaine Township residents turned to one of RSF’s grant recipients for help, the Pennsylvania- based Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF).
Through CELDF’s three-day course on democracy, constitutional law, and the regulatory system, residents learned about their legal rights. Thanks to their civicminded actions Blaine Township became the first municipality in the country to ban corporations from mining, the third to recognize that natural ecosystems independently possess enforceable rights within the community, and the fifth to strip corporations of legal and constitutional protections. The course, called Daniel Pennock Democracy School, is taught across the U.S. and already has helped hundreds of municipalities in Pennsylvania assert their rights.
“Our partnership with CELDF enabled us to see past the regulatory dead-ends and take a first step towards codifying into law a sustainable vision for Blaine Township that protects our homes, lands, and waterways,” Mr. Vacca explains.
“Thanks to a grant from RSF our campaign was successful,” says Tom Linzey, executive director of CELDF. “Without its support, communities like Blaine Township will continue to be trampled by a handful of corporate directors within the world’s largest mining, agribusiness, and waste corporations.”
For more information about the Community Legal Defense Fund, Blaine Township, and other campaigns, please visit www.celdf.org or call 717.709.0457. For more information in becoming a philanthropist or donor to support organization like CELDF, please go to our “Donor Advised Fund” page.
Friday, December 29th, 2006