[CRNMC] No takers on commenting on Mora County?

Thu Jun 5 11:52:13 PDT 2014

Dear friends, 

Its important I think for us to stand with the only other county in the
country that is asserting their right to protect their local new Mexico
water from fracking. As they are now under threat from a Big Oil lawsuit, I
know residents would be heartened to hear why you are risking the same
thing, standing with them in solidarity, real democracy, radical change and
love.  This could be the fight that goes all the way up to the Supreme
Court.  This is the organizing frontlines, where all communities stand
together to show our power and unity.

I didn¹t get any takers on the willingness to be quoted, but in case you
have a moment and thought ³surely someone else would have done it so I won¹t
bother² its a really beautiful way to reach out across the either and make a
real connection with your compatriots, allies, and fellow changemakers. Here
is the DRAFT text of the blog:

Send a quote my way today if you are so inclined.

Thanks. 

Why Mora County New Mexico is Fighting Frackers for Your Rights, Too

By Kiara Collins, Community Rights Intern, Global Exchange

Mora County New Mexico is not the first place that comes to mind for
challenging the Œrights¹ of corporations. This is high desert, and life
moves pretty slowly for the 5,000 residents‹at least until fracking arrived.

 This sparsely populated county is politically conservative, with a large
Native American population, and where over half of those living in Mora
County are native Spanish speakers. For just about everybody, homesteading,
ranching and living close to the land is a way of life. As resident Roger
Alcon told the Los Angeles times, "We've lived off the land for five
generations. I don't want to destroy our water, [and] you can't drink oil."
http://articles.latimes.com/2013/may/28/local/la-me-fracking-ban-20130529

In 2013, Mora County became the first county in the U.S to ban hydraulic
fracturing by exercising their right to local self-governance. By enacting
these rights, they passed a local law‹the Community Water Rights and Local
Self-Governance ordinance‹that bans all fossil-fuel extraction in their
county, because to do so would be a violation of residents¹ civil rights.
The ordinance also strips corporations of their ³right² to frack, and
recognizes that the ecosystem upon which all life depends has a right to be
free of the contamination that fracking brings.
http://celdf.org/downloads/Mora_Co_Community_Rights_Ordinance_042913.pdf

BIG OIL TAKES ON THE PEOPLE OF MORA COUNTY
Shortly after the ordinance was passed, the Independent Petroleum
Association of New Mexico and three landowners in a federal district court
sued Mora County. They protested that Mora County had violated corporate
constitutional rights ³commemorated in the 1st, 5th, and 14th amendments,²
‹a Constitution and a Supreme Court that has ³found² that large corporations
are rights bearing ³persons²‹which means as long as they have a permit,
unwanted industry can set up shop where we live‹even over our community
objections. 
http://www.globalexchange.org/blogs/peopletopeople/2013/01/16/beyond-personh
ood-why-corporations-love-the-constitution-more-than-you-do/

Then in January of 2014, Shell Western E&P Inc. (SWEPI), a subsidiary of
Royal Dutch Shell also sued Mora County claiming that enacting the Community
Water Rights and Local Self-Governance ordinance
<http://celdf.org/downloads/Mora_Co_Community_Rights_Ordinance_042913.pdf
<http://celdf.org/downloads/Mora_Co_Community_Rights_Ordinance_042913.pdf> >
was a violation of the corporation¹s Constitutional rights.

Despite what the Supreme Court has said, Mora County residents don¹t see the
justice in corporate decisionmakers wielding the law to turn their community
into a sacrifice zone for profit.  The Mora County ordinance clearly states
³Šcorporate entities and their directors and managers shall not enjoy
special privileges and powers under the law which make community majorities
subordinate to them.²

MORA COUNTY FIGHTS CORPORATE POWER
Mora County is not giving in to Big Oil & Gas to exploit residents, property
values, health and the ecosystem all residents depend on. They stand behind
the Bill of Rights ordinance which says that, ³corporations in violation of
the prohibitions enacted by this ordinance, or seeking to engage in
activities prohibited by this ordinance, shall not have the rights of
Œpersons¹ afforded by the United States and New Mexico constitutionsŠ²

Mora County Commissioners are working to defend this Community Bill of
Rights, but even more so to defend themselves from government laws that aim
to elevate corporate ³rights² over community rights. Mora County
commissioners has partnered with Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund
CELDF to defend the right to self-governance, which is under attack. (CELDF)
and the New Mexico Environmental Law Center stand in solidarity with Mora
County exercise their inherent rights of environmental health and safety.
They fight this themselves. Mora County Commissioners call on all
communities across the U.S to stand in solidarity with the people of Mora
county to challenge a structure of law that permits exploitation and protect
the environment that people depend so much on.
³Why is the outcome of this fight important beyond Mora County? Because at
the heart of it is the question: ³who has rights; people or
corporations?²-Ben Price, the National Organizing Director of CELDF
eloquently asked the larger question that detrimentally has and will
continue to affect us all. The Community Bill Of Rights aims to take back
power that people have been stripped of due to corporate greed. People have
a right and a duty to protect themselves from corporate elite whom only
desires to destroy local environments and families.

HOW YOU CAN GET INVOLVED TO SUPPORT MORA COUNTY
If you¹d like to support the people of Mora County in this battle with big
oil and the corporate elite, visit please visit the Mora County Legal
Defense Fund Website: moracountylegaldefensefund.org
<http://moracountylegaldefensefund.org/>
<http://moracountylegaldefensefund.org
<http://moracountylegaldefensefund.org/>

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