Environmental law could demand permission from the species whose land would be taken

Evidence

Imagination is one of our most powerful tools. What we imagine, we can become. I like to imagine what it would be like if the Honorable Harvest were the law of the land today, as it was in our past. Imagine if a developer, eying open land for a shopping mall, had to ask the goldenrod, the meadowlarks, and the monarch butterflies for permission to take their homeland. What if he had to abide by the answer? Why not? … I like to imagine a laminated card, like the one my friend the town clerk hands out with the hunting and fishing licenses, embossed with the rules of the Honorable Harvest. Everyone would be subject to the same laws, since they are, after all, the dictates of the real government: the democracy of species, the laws of Mother Nature. — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass, 663

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the Legal Systems course’s imaginary of conferring legal standing on nonhuman entities and to eco-justice’s demand for a democracy of species. — connects to: Land-rights law can be redirected to steward rather than possess the land — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom,…, 1169; Legislative power cannot take property without the owner’s consent — John Locke, Second Treatise of Government, 171; Ecology’s parts-rights logic extends egalitarian movements to endangered species — Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature: Women, Ecology,…, 1080 (+1 more)
• FICTION: A speculative-realist worldbuild: a developer’s permit hearing where goldenrod and monarchs must consent.

Broader Connections

• Legislative power cannot take property without the owner’s consent #responds-to (0.82) — John Locke, Second Treatise of Government, 171
• Landowners could stall condemnation through court appeals, giving them real leverage #complicates (0.80) — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 772
• Land-rights law can be redirected to steward rather than possess the land #corroborates (0.78) — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass, 1169
• Ecology’s parts-rights logic extends egalitarian movements to endangered species #contradicts (0.72) — Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature, 1080