Crystal Jankowski

Crystal Jankowski is a Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund-affiliated Toledoans for Safe Water organizer and petitioner behind the Lake Erie Bill of Rights.

Articles by this author

Tribes have led the way. And in less than fifteen years, three dozen laws recognizing the Rights of Nature have been passed in communities in New Mexico, Oregon, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Virginia, California, and elsewhere. (Photo, San Agustin, New Mexico, USA by Wild Horizons/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) Views
Thursday, December 03, 2020
Rights of Nature Debate Reaches New Heights
In our April 2020 op-ed for Common Dreams titled “ Abolish Earth Day ,” we argued that “it’s time environmentalists finally let go of the blind faith they have in the current environmental laws and regulatory system. Doing so will allow them to work in more meaningful solidarity with other...
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Earth Day’s laws have systematically failed to guard against mass species die-offs, the climate crisis, deadly air pollution, the corporatization of freshwater, and the largest loss of biodiversity in human history. (Photo: Bird’s eye view of wide-spread contamination in Lake Erie) Views
Wednesday, April 22, 2020
Abolish Earth Day
Let’s abolish Earth Day. Here’s why: The protection offered by the environmental regulatory system is an illusion. Frustrated with what appeared to be government inaction and not having an understanding of how the current system works, in 2017 Toledoans sued the U.S. EPA to force the Ohio EPA to “...
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