This weekend I drove to Point Arena to listen to Thomas Linzey speak. Linzey is a co-founder of Community Environment Legal Defense Fund (CELDF.org). WOW, what an eye opener.

Linzey spoke about the community of Barnstead, New Hampshire. A corporation had plans to pull 300,000 gallons of water a day from their local water resources. Barnstead fought back by drafting and ratifying the Barnstead Self-Governance Ordinance prohibiting the corporation from taking any water from their county.

This was just one of Linzey's examples of a community protecting itself from damage by corporations.

Humboldt County has passed an ordinance forbidding all non-local corporations (read "logging concerns") from contributing money to local elections. Mendocino County has passed a moratorium on GMO farming. All of these ordinances have been passed on a local level to protect the local people and the local environment.

This is, of course, very revolutionary since these ordinances challenge the rights given to corporations under the 14th amendment of the US Constitution. Linzey explained how and why the 14th amendment needs to be challenged.

Remember the long and difficult battles in this country to allow African Americans to have equal protection under the law and to allow women the right to vote? Now we find ourselves living in a country where corporations trump local government control. I am ready to participate in the process of reclaiming the rights of self-government.

For more understanding of how corporations have become so powerful in our country and in the world, try googling "Corporate Personages" or "Corporate Constitutional Rights."

If you feel that a river has a right to flow, people have a right to control what happens in their own towns and counties, and wildlife should have protection under the law, I encourage you to check the CELDF.org Web site for information on this movement.

Lorna Sue Sides lives in Nice.

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