The Law of the Earth
Human Rights
Animal Rights
Ecology
Rationality
Upholdment
Forgiveness
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Title 3: Ecology
Core
A planet is a Host.
A civilization is a Guest.
A guest must respect their host
to remain worthy of hospitality.
The Prime Directive:
Let it be.
Do not reduce
Ecological Integrity
unless absolutely necessary.
Ecological Integrity
In all decisions affecting the ecosystem,
the Law requires maximum Ecological Integrity:
1. Animate surface-area (area of ground on which flora can grow)
2. Biodiversity (number of species in the ecosystem)
3. Purity (natural chemical balance)
Violations fall under
The Three Forms of Ecological Degradation:
Ecological Degradation
1. Dis-animation (conversion of surface from animate to inanimate)
2. Eco-reduction (reduction of the number of species in the ecosystem)
3. Pollution (chemical alterations, artificial contaminants)
Human Survival Necessity
Since survival requires some degree of ecological impact,
exemptions from compliance with the Three Factors
may be warranted if all Exemption Criteria are met:
The Three Exemption Criteria:
1. The proposed action is necessary
to meet genuine needs* (see below),
2. No less harmful alternatives exist,
3. Council has been held, with locals/natives,
to determine the veracity of #1 and #2.
Mantle
Land Council
Land shall only be altered if doing so is wise.
In order to determine
if a land alteration is wise,
council must be held to debate the issue.
Where
A land council
is held at the location
of the proposed alteration.
Who
Decisions about land
rightfully belong to those
who are closest to the land.
Land Council Protocol In Chronological Order
1. Time and location announced in local Village.
2. Meeting at the site of the proposed alteration.
3. Attendance open to all.
4. Group Meditation
To clear minds,
and get in touch with the Earth
before making decisions about the Earth.
5. Discussion
5.1. What is the proposal?
Proposed land-alteration explained.
5.2. Questions are taken about the proposal.
5.3. Council chair asks:
"Is this alteration Eco-Benevolent?"
"Does it respect the 3 Principles of Ecological Integrity?"
"Does it Re-animate or Dis-animate land?"
"Does it increase or decrease biodiversity?"
"Does it keep land pure or pollute it?"
5.4. Arbitration conducted according to Title 4 (Rationality),
to determine the answers to those questions.
If Eco-Benevolent, proceed to Vote.
If ecologically degrading, continue:
5.5. "Is the proposed degradation necessary for meeting genuine needs?"
Arbitration again.
If "no", then project is automatically rejected. Council finished.
If "yes", then next question:
5.6. Is there a less ecologically harmful way to meet these needs?
Arbitration again.
If "yes", then the project is rejected. Council finished.
If "no", then proceed to Vote.
6. Vote taken.
The people who live closest to a spot
are the most intimately familiar with it,
and thus most qualified to evaluate proposals affecting it.
Voting power is a function of proximity:
V = T / D
Votes = Time divided by Distance
V = Number of points a person's Vote is worth.
T = Length of Time they have dwelt nearby
D = Distance of their dwelling from the spot
Land alterations require a 2/3 supermajority;
without this, no alteration is made.
Land Council Appeals
Land Council decisions may be appealed
to the Village Council during normal meetings.
Next, they may be appealed to the Township Council,
and then City Council, then Regional Council,
and finally, the High Council,
depending on those Councils' willingness to hear the dispute.
Only alteration approvals can be appealed.
Alteration rejections cannot be appealed.
No greater level of social organization
may impose a land alteration upon an unwilling Village;
although it may overrule a village's desire to alter the land.
If a higher level Council overrules
a Village's plan to alter land to meet needs,
then it must provide an alternative to meet those needs
with less ecological harm - otherwise, it may not overrule.
Genuine Needs
These are the needs which can potentially justify* land alteration:
Full nutrition
Clean accessible water
Adequate temperature
Comfortable sleeping
Convenient defecation
Cleanliness/bathing
Protection from predators/bugs
Medicine
Social gathering
Facilities for producing tools or energy
necessary for fulfilling these needs.
*This doesn't mean that unnecessary structures can't be built -
it just means land cannot be allocated and ecologically degraded
to make space for something unnecessary.
If facilities can be stacked in storeys, then each additional storey is "free."
Soft Rules
Whereas the Hard Rules are non-negotiable,
exceptions may be made to the Soft Rules,
but only with the approval of Land Council.
Trees
It is unlawful to fell any tree without Land Council approval.
Such Council must be held
at the foot of the tree in question.
A Land Council may not approve
the felling of more than one tree per meeting.
Felling is defined as:
cutting the trunk, or any major branches,
or digging that gravely disrupts the root system,
or building a structure that blocks a majority of sunlight.
Construction
With the exception of temporary dwellings (tents, yurts, etc.),
it is unlawful to construct anything upon living soil
without Land Council approval.
Digging and Mining
No material may be removed from the ground
without Land Council approval.
Altering the Course of Water
It is unlawful to alter the course of any river or stream
without Land Council approval.
Hard Rules
Any activity that endangers the whole planet,
or eliminates entire ecosystems,
is universally unlawful,
and beyond the authority
of any Land Council to approve:
Fracking
It is unlawful to inject chemicals into the ground,
or to attack the structural integrity of the planet's crust.
Strip Mining / Mountaintop Removal
It is unlawful to destroy
the land's ability to support life.
All equipment for this purpose is contraband.
Dams
It is unlawful to dam a river to such an extent
that entire ecosystems and/or villages
are flooded and eliminated.
Existing dams must have fish ladders
that accomodate the largest marine animals
historically known to traverse the river.
If this cannot be done,
then the dam must be dismantled.
Slashing and Burning
It is unlawful to deliberately set fire
to any forest, grass, or brushland,
for any reason whatsoever.
Clear-Cutting
It is unlawful to cut 2 or more trees adjacent to each other,
or any tree on the edge of the forest canopy.
It is unlawful to produce, distribute, or possess
any machinery that expedites such destruction,
including all electric/fuel-powered timber machinery.
Backbone Species
It is unlawful to cut a healthy, mature, native tree
of a species that constitutes the backbone of the ecosystem.
Weapons of Mass Destruction
It is unlawful to knowingly participate in, or give support to,
the construction, assembly, research/development, or testing
of nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons or their parts.
Nuclear Reactors
It is unlawful to construct new nuclear reactors.
It is unlawful to mine or refine nuclear fuel.
Existing reactors may continue to use existing fuel,
until all existing fuel is spent, and/or
safe energy sources mature to replace them.
Hazardous Waste
It is unlawful to export hazardous waste for storage.
All nuclear waste must be stored within the district
for which that material provided its energy.
All existing nuclear waste that has been exported
shall be repatriated back to the district that used it,
which is responsible for its storage in perpetuity.
Genetic Corruption of Organisms
No organism may be genetically altered if it has the potential
to contaminate the genepool of non-modified individuals
by breeding with them without further human assistance.
Particle Experiments
Any device that is capable of producing blackholes or strangelets
shall be considered a WMD (weapon of mass destruction),
and be placed under the custody of planetary regulation.
No particle experiments may be performed
without passing a planetary referendum
by a majority of the human population.
Endangered Species
It is illegal to harm any animal or plant
that is of any conservation status
beyond Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN scale.
Pollution
It is unlawful to dump
artificial and/or dangerous chemicals
into the water or the soil.
Any facility that deliberately does this
is legally warranted for immediate dismantling
without further authorization from anyone.
Crimes Against Nature
Whosoever disregards any aforementioned Hard Rule,
deliberately committing a violation thereof,
is guilty of a Crime Against Nature.
Land Rights
Land is our home, not our property.
A member of an organization
cannot own that organization.
The finger cannot own the hand;
and a person cannot own the land.
As a member of the ecosystem,
a human being may not own the ecosystem.
The maximum amount of legal authority
that anyone may unilaterally exercise upon land
is that of a Steward, guarding and caring for the land's health.
Instead of "ownership", there are specific rights regarding specific uses.
In order of most universal to most specific, these are:
1. Presence
Everyone law-abiding person has this right by default,
and excepting spaces that have been territorialized.
See the section on Presence below.
2. Foraging
Everyone has this right, to fill immediate hunger,
(not to carry food away, unless they have the right to Harvest)
See the section on Foraging below.
3. Hunting
The local Village decides
whether hunting is allowed, and if so, how much.
See the section on Hunting below.
4. Stewardship
See the section on Stewardship below.
5. Agriculture
The right to carry crops away from the location.
See the section on Agriculture below.
6. Territorialization
See the section on Territorialization below.
7. Construction
The right to build a permanent structure.
See the section on Architecture below.
8. Extraction
Removal of minerals from the ground;
which, once extracted, belong to the human race.
See the section on Resource Management below.
ALL of these rights, except Presence and Foraging,
are determined by the local Village.
Presence
A person may walk anywhere on Earth, as long as they:
-Are not trampling plants that were clearly planted by someone
-Are taking genuine care not to step on sensitive plants
-Are not walking on an especially ecologically sensitive patch
-Not in anyone's legitimately established Personal Territory (see below)
Foraging
Definition: Picking and eating directly;
not carrying, except in stomach.
All people have the right to forage any botanical fruit*.
*The part of a plant that is botanically a fruit,
even if it is considered a vegetable taste-wise.
All people have the right to forage any vegetable**, as long as:
-It is not in danger of extinction or extirpation, AND
-No crippling amount of foliage is taken from any one plant.
**Any part of a plant whose removal will impact its growth ability
After foraging from a plant planted by another person,
the forager must make a good faith effort
to participate in replenishing what was foraged.
This responsibility may be waived
if meeting the planter would put the forager in physical danger
due to the planter's non-acknowledgment of law.
As long as these conditions are met, foraging is lawful.
Plucking
Definition: Foraging that seriously damages or kills the plant.
A person may only pluck a food plant if:
-They have the right to harvest it (see Harvesting), OR
-They are starving, and no normal forage is available.
Hunting
If a species is in danger of being extirpated from an area
due to excessive hunting or picking by humans,
then a regulation and licensing system may be used.
If such a system already exists, and is not corrupt,
it may continue to be used, and has lawful authority.
Land Stewardship
Land Stewardship consists of:
Deliberate, but non-destructive modifications to land
which are not disanimation, ecoreduction, or pollution,
and do not impede the movement of people or fauna.
Activities that fall under Stewardship:
moving rocks by hand, carving rocks by hand,
shaping soil (without powered machines),
chopping naturally fallen trees,
planting flora that do not reduce biodiversity
performing tree/shrub care
performing upkeep on existing footpaths
making bridges out of organic material
making decorations and small shrines
Land Stewardship does not involve machines.
If machines are involved,
then the activity is a major alteration,
and is subject to Land Council arbitration.
Any degree of alteration beyond these
is prohibited without approval from Land Council.
Origin of Land Stewardship Right
This right belongs to one person,
who has displayed the most love of the land,
and the most competence at taking care of it.
The person with the most intimate love for the land
has earned the right to Stewardship of it.
If more than one person claims
to have the most intimate love for the land,
then the following factors are considered:
1) Length of time dwelling near spot in question
2) Proximity of sleeping space to spot in question
3) Actions displaying love, e.g. tree/flower planting, litter cleaning
4) Overall condition of the land while under the person's care,
5) Respect for land, evidenced by alignment with law.
Stewardship may only apply
to the area imediately adjacent to one's dwelling.
Agriculture
All food production shall follow the laws
of Maximum Localization and Maximum Diversification.
Maximum Localization
All food shall be grown as near as possible
to the location where it is to be eaten.
Every household shall fulfill one or both of the following criteria:
1. Have its own garden sufficient for its nutritional needs
2. Be within walking distance of a collective garden
sufficient for its nutritional needs.
Food shall not be imported or transported long distances, except:
1. Food that can't grow in the local climate, not even in a greenhouse
2. While waiting for local planted crops of the same kind to mature
3. In event of famines, disasters, or other humanitarian emergencies.
Maximum Diversification
If a row of crops is so long and tedious
as to require heavy machinery to farm,
then there are too many crops in a row.
It is unlawful to design farms as monocrops.
Food shall be grown in Forest Garden arrangements.
Food crops shall be planted in diverse arrangements,
with different types of plants interspersed with one another,
woven between dwellings, throughout the village layout.
All existing monocrop fields shall be reduced in size every year,
and either converted into Forest Gardens,
or regenerated back into a natural mature forest.
A person may tend any plant that they personally planted,
or have permission to do so from the person who planted it.
Harvesting
Definition: Picking and storing for later.
The right to harvest a plant is derived from having planted it.
Planting
Any person may plant any food plant
anywhere that won't harm or compete
with a plant planted by someone else.
(Unless that person's permission is given).
Territorialization
The right to exercise discretion
as to who may enter or tread upon the ground,
and to forcibly remove anyone who does not respect this.
The size of a territory is
an area equivalent to
a circle of diameter VH
where H is one's height
from toetips to fingertips
and V is a number set by Village,
at least 1.5, and no greater than 5,
applying to all Village residents equally.
Additionally, T may be multiplied further
if territories are stacked upon each other vertically,
giving the final equation:
T = VHS
T = area of Territory
V = number set by Village
H = person's height from toetips to fingertips
S = the number of storeys stacked upon each other
A person is entitled one (1) territory.
It must be contiguous.
It does not need to be round.
A person may choose any location
that has not already been claimed as another's territory,
and has not been designated a Sacred Space.
Sacred Space can be declared by Council at any layer,
(Village, Township, City, Metro, Continent, Planet)
for land within its terrasdiction.
Construction
Definition of a Building:
Any affixment to land
of artificial products or substances
that cover the soil and deprive it of flora.
All Architecture on Planet Earth
must use the most advanced ecotechnology
available at the time of planning.
Ecotechnology
The art of providing for human needs
with as little impact on Nature as possible.
All new construction
must meet all of the following conditions:
1) Necessity
Disanimation is only allowed if
the building performs a function
that is genuinely necessary for meeting real needs.
2) Surface-Area Efficiency
No amount of land is disanimated
beyond what is genuinely necessary
to fulfill the building's function.
AND/OR
The building's function will allow
a greater amount of land
to be reforested.
3) Energy Efficiency
The building utilizes natural sources of heat (or cooling),
maximizes the sharing of artificial climate control,
and maximizes the efficiency of water usage.
4) Efficiency of Materials
The building is constructed with
the least ecologically damaging materials,
including recycled and re-used materials
to the maximum extent available.
5) Blending In
The building blends in with the ecosystem around it,
does not necessitate the cutting of any mature trees,
and does not disturb any ecologically sensitive area.
Build IN the ecosystem - not ON the ecosystem.
6) Beauty
The building aligns with the surrounding energy dynamics,
utilizes proper building designs based on ancient wisdom,
and is pleasing to behold, pass by, and live in or near.
7) Green Roofing
All buildings must:
Be small/narrow enough
to avoid breaking the forest canopy
AND/OR
Have all unused rooftop surface area
covered with soil and planted flora.
8) Shareability
The building is accessible and available
to be shared by as many people as possible
minimizing the need to build duplicate buildings.
Building Space Allocation
Unnecessary duplication of facilities
places unnecessary strain on the ecosystem.
All facilities shall be shared
to the maximum extent reasonable.
Therefore it is unlawful for a social unit
to utilize land surface area for construction
of any facility that is unnecessarily duplicative.
The Benefit of Vertical Stacking
Facilities built as additional storeys on top of others
do not consume extra land-surface area,
and therefore are not restricted by the prohibition on duplication.
Location Selection
Location selection is subject to the approval
of both Daily Council and Land Council.
Sedentary Dwelling Waiting Period
To be eligible to construct any sedentary dwelling,
the person must first dwell on their territory
in a tent/yurt/tipi for at least one season.
Transportation
Footpaths
Footpaths are the paths
most natural to humanity,
and most preferred by the planet.
Footpaths are made by walking,
and do not require machinery to make.
Wherever enough people walk,
footpaths will naturally form.
If a path requires machinery to make,
then it is by definition not a footpath.
Tools may be used on already-existing footpaths
to smooth them out and make them easier to walk.
Since a village is, by definition, compact enough to walk,
the only pathways appropriate within a village
are footpaths.
RoadRails
All new roads must be as efficient as possible
by combining multiple styles of transit
in layers, over the same space.
RoadRails are the most
efficient and natural
form of transit beyond walking.
A RoadRail consists of:
an elevated railway
over a paved pathway for autos.
All railways shall be:
1) Elevated
2) Quiet
Either maglev for high-speeds,
or slow enough to not disturb tranquility.
3) Paved Underneath
To allow bicycles and motorbikes (scooters).
4) Outfitted with Chargers
To charge electric vehicles at any stop.
5) Narrow
The road is narrow enough to:
Allow an unbroken tree canopy above it.
6) Intuitive
The road follows the contours of the land,
and does not require extensive reshaping of the land.
7) Non-Intrusive
The road does not fell any large mature trees,
does not traverse any old-growth/virgin forest,
does not pass through any village,
(but rather goes around the periphery),
and does not involve blasting or carving out bedrock,
except in the case of tunnels.
8) Consensual
The road has been voluntarily and willingly approved
by all people with Land Stewardship Rights
on land that it passes over.
9) Built In Stages If Necessary
If a town cannot presently afford to build the railway,
then the bike/scooter way may be made first,
designed for the eventual addition of the railway above.
Small, Large, and InterCity RoadRails
Small RoadRails connect a village to its town core.
Size: Two cabs, side by side, each with two seats per row (plus aisle)
and a paved road underneath, wide enough for two scooter lanes
(one in each direction, plus sidewalks).
They only go around villages, not through villages.
No roads of any kind go through villages, except footpaths.
Large RoadRails serve to connect a town to another town, or to a city core.
Size: Two cabs, side by side, each with four seats per row
and a paved road underneath, wide enough for two car lanes
(one lane in each direction, plus grassy shoulders)
They go around edges of towns, not through towns.
Intercity RoadRails serve to connect cities.
Size: Four cabs, side by side, each with 4 seats per row,
and a paved road underneath, for 2 car lanes in each direction,
divided by a median with trees.
Large and Intercity RoadRails may build fences along their edges
to prevent collisions of fauna and vehicles on the lower, paved surface,
provided that the fences allow small fauna to pass unrestricted,
and have natural, soil-lined land-bridges placed at every kilometer,
to allow large fauna to pass and migrate.
Automobile Roads
It is unlawful to build new stand-alone automobile roads.
All existing auto-roads that are 2 lanes or less
may continue to be maintained and repaired.
Multilane Highways
Multilane highways (3 or more lanes undivided)
are scars upon the Earth,
and are thus unlawful to construct or maintain.
All autoroads that involve 3 or more undivided lanes
are lawfully mandated to be dismantled,
or reduced down to 2 lanes.
Air Travel
The purpose of air travel
is to cross large bodies of water.
All new transportation routes that traverse dry land
shall be Footpaths or RoadRails.
Existing air routes that traverse dry land
may continue to operate during the transition
to global, sustainable, surface-based travel,
but no new air routes shall be established over land.
No new airports, nor new runways
shall be constructed in inland areas
("inland area" defined as any area that has another airport
between it and the nearest large body of water).
Existing inland runways may be maintained.
New airports may only be constructed
directly adjacent to the shoreline
of the body of water they are meant to traverse.
In all aiports, the grassy area around runways
shall be open to gardening with non-woody plants
by security-approved local residents.
Natural Resources
Sustainable Management
As resources are finite,
a community may establish
a Sustainable Management Authority
to manage the sustainable use of a resource
on behalf of all who depend on it , and their posterity.
This management authority shall be elected
by everyone dependent on that resource.
Water
Large Scale Irrigation
It is unlawful to unsustainably irrigate,
in a way that permanently depletes
existing water bodies.
Anyone who is dependent on a body of water
has a say in the use of water from that body.
Energy
People may install
renewable, non-disruptive energy devices,
on, or within a stone's throw of, their own habitation.
Villages may set up energy infrastructure
for energy to be used within the village.
All villages shall have the goal
of being energy self-sufficient.
Existing long-distance grids
may be maintained, but not expanded.
If there is no local source of energy,
then locals shall simply continue living
in same way they've been living thus far,
or innovate a new way to supply energy
in a clean, renewable, ecologically non-degrading way.
All electric lines run along RoadRails,
and entirely underground within the perimeter of a village.
Telecommunications lines run alongside electric lines on RoadRails,
but since the telecommunications network is global,
it may also run between cities and under oceans.
Fossil Fuels
The purpose of fossil fuels
is to temporarily power civilization
until clean, renewable energy matures.
Fossil fuels are not for economic growth.
Unsustainable, fossil-fuel-based economic growth
shall cease immediately, unconditionally, and completely.
Economic growth shall not resume until it can do so sustainably.
In the meantime, existing energy and agricultural networks
may continue to be used to maintain societal stability,
while sustainable alternatives are maturing.
Planetization of Fossil Fuel Resources
The planet's remaining fossil fuel infrastructure
is henceforth placed under the collective management
of the Human Race, on behalf of all people living on Earth.
This includes all coal, petroleum, and natural gas
in the ground and in storage facilities,
all fossil fuel extraction machinery,
and all petroleum refineries.
This is not an entitlement for use,
but for an equal share of the benefits, if used.
Ownership of un-extracted minerals is NOT a right to extract,
but the right to an equal share of the benefit, if extracted.
100% of future revenue of the fossil fuel industries
shall be directed to research, development, and subsidized
production of renewable, sustainable, clean energy technologies.
Minerals
Moratorium On Mining
There exists a moratorium
on the mining of every mineral
until that mineral has been recovered
from all accessible trash landfills,
and such supply is exhaused.
It is unlawful to establish any new mineral mine
when the mineral can still be supplied from recycling.
Waste Management
Compulsory Recycling
100% of refuse shall be recycled,
there shall be no more dumps or landfills.
Responsibility for Recycling
Any company that sells non-biodegradable products
to an area that lacks the infrastructure to recycle the product
is legally and financially responsible for collecting and recycling it.
If a product is too costly to recycle,
then it shall not be manufactured in the first place.
Organic Waste
All non-hazardous organic waste shall be returned to the soil,
without being enclosed in any non-organic container.
Existing sewage systems may be maintained
but not expanded.