Nature Rights: A Lake in Florida Sues to Stop Development on its Shores
Fox and Friends – Fox News Channel – Broadcast December 14, 2023
Rough Transcript:
Rachel Campos-Duffy: Far-left climate laws giving human-style legal rights to nature. It’s becoming more popular across the globe. And here’s what the media is saying about it.
Media clip: We’ve all heard of human rights, civil rights, and women’s rights. But what about the rights of nature? A growing global movement seeks to give plants, animals, and entire ecosystems some of the same legal protections that humans have.
Rachel Campos-Duffy: The concept is that, like humans, all living things and ecosystems have the fundamental right to exist and thrive and that nature’s rights, like humans, can be defended in court. Ten states already have some form of legal protection in place for nature. A move critics argue stifles our ability to use natural resources productively. Our next guest warns it will only lead to more human suffering.
Climate Depot publisher Marc Morano is here to explain. Marc, welcome, and thanks for all the good work you did at the UN climate conference. But yes, one of the things you talked about coming out of that conference is how so many of these policies, including this one now to make trees equal to humans, is meant to stifle the poorest of the poor on our planet.
Marc Morano: It is, in fact, in the same vein. The Financial Times reported essentially about white-wealthy Western nations buying up land in Africa as ‘carbon offsets.’ So you have at least five African nations where 20% of their land is locked up. They can’t develop it based on some sort of sense of preserving nature rights.
Morano: We all want a clean, healthy environment. But what they’ve done here is now giving voice to rivers, trees, and land, and obviously, they can’t speak for themselves. So, where is their voice coming from? It’s coming from self-important, self-appointed bureaucrats and activists who will speak on behalf of these inanimate objects.
There was a Kenyan biologist, Rachel, who talked about the poaching laws in Africa, where you are shot dead on the spot for engaging in it. There were, I think it was six gorillas who died, but at the same time, literally hundreds of women and children who were raped and killed were ignored.
See: Kenyan Biologist: Nature Conservation Is ‘New Colonialism’ — Africa ‘A Place For White Elitists To Enjoy’
“Nature conservation is the new colonialism,” Kenyan ecologist Mordecai Ogada told German magazine GEO. A Kenyan biologist thinks white Europeans and Americans are using “nature conservation” for “self promotion” and have created nothing but failure in Africa. … “In Kenya, we arrest robbers, kidnappers, murderers and bring them to justice. But we shoot poachers. Sometimes it happens to someone who is just walking through a protected area,” he told GEO. Six gorillas more important than hundreds of Africans: Ogada also illustrates how western values are gravely out of whack, using the example of six poached gorillas at Virunga that made western headlines but not widescale killing and raping of women and children: “But the worst thing about it was that at the same time Virunga was considered one of the world’s worst rape scenes. Hundreds of women were raped every day, children were killed. And none of it made the news. Just the six dead gorillas. And that is so fundamentally wrong.” –
Morano: There’s a perversion of a worldview here that humans will now be essentially reduced to the level of a rock, a river, or a plant.
Rachel Campos-Duffy: It really speaks to how anti-human this movement is; how about before we give rights to trees, who they claim are voiceless? How about we give rights to the unborn? But extend those rights to them and welcome them into the human family. Before we welcome in trees. I mean, this is just absolutely insane. And you’re right; the people that get hurt are the poorest of the poor.
Rachel Campos-Duffy: One of the things that happened also at the Climate Conference, you were at Dubai, was that they announced somehow these elites announced that they’re going to get rid of fossil fuels. Nobody voted on it, but they’re going to do it. They’re going to do it through hook or crook through all this to the administrative state and through all these UN treaties, and one of the ways they’re going to do that they want to get rid of in the state of Washington, they’ve already voted to get rid of leaf blowers that are gas, gas-powered, use fossil fuels.
Marc Morano: This is where it’s insane. And they’re threatening jail time for using leaf blowers; for using lawn mowers, for a whole host of landscape equipment. What this does — first of all — it does nothing for U.S. emissions. It does nothing for global emissions — which is even if you believe carbon dioxide is the devil’s breath destroying the Earth. It’s total virtue signaling on the climate. See: Washington state Democrat bill would jail people for violating ban on gas leaf blowers
But this crushes small business startups. If you are trying to start a landscaping company or a tree-cutting service, you can’t afford it, the alternative to what they’re trying to impose all electric equipment. (See: California quickly moving to wipe out the lawn care industry – Newsom will ban the sale of small engines that burn gasoline) And again, most of these gas-powered bans in the case of California, are happening without any democracy. And they’re crushing people, and they’re now threatening them with jail for using gas-powered equipment.
What’s next? Are they going to start threatening people with jail if you fly on a plane too many times? Because CNN is already promoting carbon passports so you can fly only a limited number of times. Are you going to jail if you drive a car that’s gas-powered? I mean, that’s where we’re headed.
Rachel Campos-Duffy: There’s absolutely no question in my mind, Marc, that this is exactly where they’re heading. And by the way, the state of Washington, Seattle, has a lot of bigger problems than leaf blowers. It’s just such a missed prioritization of what people really care about. And as you said, No one voted for any of this.
Thank you so much, Marc Morano, for joining us, and thanks again for the great work that you did — shining light on what these elitist weirdos are doing in Dubai at the Climate Conference. Really appreciate it.
Morano: Well, thank you, Rachel. Appreciate it. Thanks.
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Climate Depot Note: Nature Rights is also a form of Earth worship paganism that displaces belief in God. Climate & earth religion replaces traditional religions.
The UN summits have promoted such beliefs. From 2022 UN climate summit: See: Climate Religion: Egypt’s Mount Sinai to receive ‘Climate Justice Ten Commandments’ during UN summit – Interfaith ‘Climate Repentance Ceremonies’.
And ‘Nature rights’ are opposite of ‘equity’:
Kenyan Biologist: Nature Conservation Is ‘New Colonialism’ — Africa ‘A Place For White Elitists To Enjoy’ –
In his book, Ogada, who has worked as a biologist for NGOs for more than 18 years, compared nature conservation in Africa to apartheid because “projects are run by whites” who make all the decisions and use black researchers as window dressing, adding: “you suddenly realize that decisions are forced on you by people who are less qualified and often white.” …
“In Kenya, we arrest robbers, kidnappers, murderers and bring them to justice. But we shoot poachers. Sometimes it happens to someone who is just walking through a protected area,” he told GEO. Six gorillas more important than hundreds of Africans: Ogada also illustrates how western values are gravely out of whack, using the example of six poached gorillas at Virunga that made western headlines but not widescale killing and raping of women and children: “But the worst thing about it was that at the same time Virunga was considered one of the world’s worst rape scenes. Hundreds of women were raped every day, children were killed. And none of it made the news. Just the six dead gorillas. And that is so fundamentally wrong.” …
Dr. Ogada claims big nature conservation organisations create crisis to justify their work. “Nature conservation is the only area where we reward failure. They have done nothing or the wrong thing for 40 years.” He tells GEO: “Nature conservation is a business. And environmentalists are no angels.”
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Climate Depot Notes:
The nature rights movement is just another grift for the UN and environmental activists.
It is a movement couched in lofty-sounding concern for the rivers, trees, and animals, but in the end it is simply about making money and increasing power to those who want to impose an agenda.
When a lake sues to stop boating in its waters or a tree files a court case against having itself cut down, who will be ‘speaking’ for the tree or lake?
UN and other Environmental grifters are the answer – How will those who ‘feel’ or somehow ‘know’ what the land, or trees or rivers or nature actually want? How will they interpret nature’s ‘voice’?
What pronouns will we use to refer to the tree or river? Will Facebook have to add dozens more gender pronouns to fit the demands of ‘nature rights’?
Elevating land, trees, animals, bodies of water, and even air to human rights equivalents will mean only one thing: Humans will suffer!
Elizabeth Kolbert of the New Yorker wrote: “For most of history, people saw themselves as dependent on their surroundings, and “rivers, trees, and land” enjoyed the last word.”
Development, fossil fuels, and human ingenuity changed all that! We were able to master the climate so that we could thrive and live longer, not this movement wants to return us to the dark ages.
This is a bureaucratic capture of EVERy level of human endeavor and development. Will people be able to cut their grass or trim a tree without legal advocates for Nature interfering?
Will a swimming pool be labeled ‘nature’, thus making people need permission to fill it with water or chlorinate it?!
A Kenyan Biologist has explained how nature rights strip away rights from humans and strip them from the poorest people.
And ‘nature rights’ is the OPPOSITE of ‘equity’
See: Kenyan Biolsist: Nature Conservation Is ‘New Colonialism’ — Africa ‘A Place For White Elitists To Enjoy’ – Excerpt: Kenyan ecologist Mordecai Ogada told German magazine GEO.
In his book, Ogada, who has worked as a biologist for NGOs for more than 18 years, compared nature conservation in Africa to apartheid because “projects are run by whites” who make all the decisions and use black researchers as window dressing, adding: “you suddenly realize that decisions are forced on you by people who are less qualified and often white.”
Dr. Ogada told GEO: “Nature conservation in Africa still follows the rules of colonial times: keep black people away from nature so that white people can enjoy it.”
Six gorillas more important than hundreds of Africans: Ogada also illustrates how western values are gravely out of whack, using the example of six poached gorillas at Virunga that made western headlines but not widescale killing and raping of women and children:
Climate Colonialism: ‘The looming land grab in Africa for carbon credits’ – Western carbon offset companies look to lock up ‘a tenth of Liberia’s land mass, a fifth of Zimbabwe’s, & swaths of Kenya, Zambia & Tanzania’
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Fox and Friends – Fox News Channel – Broadcast December 14, 2023
Morano on ‘nature rights’: “The Financial Times reported essentially about white-wealthy Western nations buying up land in Africa as ‘carbon offsets.’ So you have at least five African nations where 20% of their land is locked up. They can’t develop it based on some sort of sense of preserving nature rights.” See: Climate Colonialism: ‘The looming land grab in Africa for carbon credits’ – Western carbon offset companies look to lock up ‘a tenth of Liberia’s land mass, a fifth of Zimbabwe’s, & swaths of Kenya, Zambia & Tanzania’
Morano: “We all want a clean, healthy environment. But what they’ve done here is now giving voice to rivers, trees, and land, and obviously, they can’t speak for themselves. So, where is their voice coming from? It’s coming from self-important, self-appointed bureaucrats and activists who will speak on behalf of these inanimate objects.”
Morano on proposed jail time for using gas leaf blowers: “What’s next? Are they going to start threatening people with jail if you fly on a plane too many times? Because CNN is already promoting carbon passports so you can fly only a limited number of times. Are you going to jail if you drive a car that’s gas-powered? I mean, that’s where we’re headed.”