Florida environmentalists are moving to place five initiatives on the state ballot next year, including a constitutional amendment that would confer certain legal rights on Florida’s bodies of water.
The political action committee FL5.org is now gathering signatures to place the initiatives on the 2022 general election ballot. One of the proposals, called the Florida Right to Clean Water, aims to give the “rights of nature” concept statewide status, according to FL5.org’s chairman, Charles O’Neal.
“It would take the charter amendment that was successful in Orange County (in 2020) and expand it out statewide,” O’Neal told the Florida Record.
The Orange County amendment, which was preempted by a state law, would have given the Wekiva and Econlockhatchee rivers legal rights and provided private citizens with the power to enforce such legal rights, including a prohibition on pollution. Those who oppose “rights of nature” argue that they would result in a flood of civil litigation and hurt the overall economy.
In the proposed constitutional amendment, bodies of water such as the Everglades, St. Johns River and Tampa Bay would gain the right to flow, the right to exist, the right to be pollution-free and the right to maintain a healthy ecosystem, according to O’Neal.
“It would also give individual citizens the right to bring (legal) actions in defense of waters in the state of Florida,” he said.
Another FL5.org proposal would give certain iconic species in the state, such as the Florida black bear, bottlenose dolphin and manatee, the legal right to “exist, thrive and evolve,” according to a text of the proposed amendment. Specifically, the proposal would ban recreational and commercial hunting of these species and grant citizens the ability to file lawsuits to enforce such protections.
The third proposal would ban the estimated 200 captive hunting facilities in Florida in order to prevent animal cruelty and protect wildlife, O’Neal said.
“Most people don't even realize that it's legal,” he said. “It's contrary to the general consensus in the state and in the constitution to conserve wildlife in the state."
Another FL5.org proposal would protect Florida wetlands from draining or dredging activities, according to O’Neal. The state has already lost half of its original wetlands to development, he said.
“These are the natural kidneys of Florida,” O’Neal said. “And so I like to say we have already donated one kidney to developers. We can’t afford to donate another one.”
The last proposed amendment would ban the construction of toll roads on conservation or rural areas, O’Neal said, indicating that Florida has more toll road miles than any other state and that such projects can divide wildlife corridors.