WUFT News · Rights of Nature

Photo by John Moran

On the fiftieth anniversary of Earth Day, is it time to consider rights for nature?

This article originally appeared on WUFT News on April 22, 2020.

Most of the time, the Floridan Aquifer feeds the nearly 200 springs in the Suwanee River Basin, pushing water up through ancient porous limestone to the surface.

During times of flood, pressure from the rising waters can cause the springs to reverse flow. The springs recharge the aquifer instead of the other way around. This reversal historically kept the region’s iconic freshwaters healthy and thriving.

The relationship between the waters underground and those at the surface is not one-way. It’s give-and-take.

… “Florida has become the epicenter of rights of nature lawmaking,” says Thomas Linzey, Senior Counsel at the Spokane-based Center for Democratic and Environmental Rights and co-founder of the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund.