On Election Day, a breathtaking 89% of Orange County voters approved the Right to Clean Water Charter Amendment. Orange County is now the largest jurisdiction in the nation to pass this kind of legislation.
Historic in its scope and meaning, this vote ushers in the systemic change Florida needs, and it makes Florida the epicenter of the Rights of Nature movement in the United States.
This is an indisputable, bipartisan mandate from the citizens of Orange County. Approval of the amendment — also known as the Wekiva River and Econlockhatchee River Bill of Rights — shows that the rights to clean water and healthy ecosystems are not to be subordinated to the interests of polluters. The amendment gives citizens the right to sue corporate polluters in court, without having to show they have been personally harmed, as state law requires.
It shows that business should not be conducted at the expense of the environment and the public welfare, and that the so-called choice between a healthy environment and a healthy economy is a false one.
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Source: Sun Sentinel