Florida Phoenix: The tides are turning: Central Florida voters say clean water is a right-11/13/2020

Courtesy of VisitFlorida.com

CDER’s very own senior legal counsel, Thomas Linzey, was featured in the latest article by Florida Phoenix. Craig Pittman weaves together a fantastic exposition on a community coming together to keep their backyard functional and beautiful. As Pittman points out: “Nearly nine out of 10 voters in Orange County approved a change to their county’s charter that added a section declaring that humans have a right to clean water, and that natural features like rivers and lakes have the same legal rights as people” (Florida Phoenix, Nov 2020). This Right to Clean Water Initiative was a resounding statement that these Central Floridians want protections in place so that they can drink clean water, fish and enjoy natural habitats with their families for generations to come.

This ballot initiative expends individual rights as well, since it gives power to individual constituents to advocate on behalf of the waterways, instead of waiting for environmental organizational bodies step in. Thomas Linzey visited a conference in Central Florida almost two years ago and was met with frustrated constituents like Chuck O’Neal who just felt handcuffed and ill prepared to deal at the local level with the power of special interest groups. This passion and knowledge fused together to create a grassroots movement that saw landmark rights of nature being recognized and the election success of Nicole Wilson nabbing the role of county commissioner.

Ignoring Legislature, Central Florida voters say clean water is a right