By Erin La Rosa, ecorazzi
It’s an annoying fact that not everyone recycles or turns the lights off or makes efforts to so much as conserve water. So, what if the government stepped in and forced everyone to do all of those things?
That’s what lawmakers in Bolivia are taking steps toward with their “Law of Mother Earth” bill. It’s a piece of legislation that would grant nature equal rights to humans.
The laws would be the first of their kind, with 11 in total, and would recognize that the planet has an equal right to be protected.
The Guardian outlined the laws as: “the right to life and to exist; the right to continue vital cycles and processes free from human alteration; the right to pure water and clean air; the right to balance; the right not to be polluted; and the right to not have cellular structure modified or genetically altered.”
Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera said when describing the new law, “Earth is the mother of all…the harmony [between man and nature] must be preserved as a guarantee of its regeneration.”
The South American country has been threatened by environmental changes, with temperatures steadily increasing and its glaciers (a source of water and electricity for them) disappearing at rapid rates.
Hopefully Bolivia’s bold move will lead to laws like this being implemented elsewhere!
(via Huffington Post)