Yes, you read that headline right. Lake Hart (along with Wilde Cypress Branch, Boggy Branch, Crosby Island Marsh, and Lake Mary Jane) are suing the State of Florida. This might seem silly (and it really is), but believe it or not laws protecting the “rights of nature” actually exist in some places, and lawsuits have actually been filed and upheld based on them in India, Columbia, and Bangladesh. India even went so far as to declare that the Ganges and Yamuna rivers, as well as the Himalayan glaciers, glades and forests should be given legal personhood in an attempt to protect them from environmental damage.
And that is what Orange County, Florida is attempting to do. They have passed a “rights of nature” law that secures the rights of its waterways to exist, to flow, to be protected against pollution, and to maintain a healthy ecosystem. It also recognizes the authority of its citizens to file enforcement actions on their behalf. And that is exactly what is happening … (Continue reading here.)