a documentary on “rights of nature” produced by Oscar-nominated actor Mark Ruffalo, slated to premiere at the 2020 Columbus International Film Festival in Ohio. “Grant Township has proven against all odds that a community is capable of stronger protections for the environment than state or federal governments,” says the film’s co-director Joshua Pribanic. “By taking a stand and winning, they’ve set a new precedent worldwide on what the rights of nature can accomplish.
The victory for Grant Township could potentially ripple across the fracking industry, already struggling from global price wobbles, a push toward renewables in the face of climate change, increased criticism over health harms to communities, and recent market fluctuations caused by the coronavirus. Essentially, the court is saying it wants to hear the township’s argument for why frack waste would violate their constitutional rights, and the court is refusing to simply dismiss the case, as DEP had asked it to do, says Chad Nicholson, an organizer with the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, the Mercersburg, Pennsylvania-based law firm that served as Grant Township’s legal counsel and has worked with communities around the country on rights-of-nature cases.
“DEP’s decision to revoke the permit is not just about Grant,” he adds. “It also recognizes that local laws passed by other communities, whether related to fracking, pipelines, or injection wells, would also authorize the DEP to deny permits. This is a huge step forward for local resistance to the oil-and-gas industry in Pennsylvania.”
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