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A concern for environmental protection has recurred in diverse forms, in different parts of the world, throughout history. For example, in the late nineteenth and
early twentieth century, John Muir (1838–1914) was an influential ScottishAmerican naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, glaciologist, and early
advocate for the preservation of wilderness in the United States. He helped preserve
Yosemite Valley and his work impacted on the US Congress which passed legislation to create Yosemite National Park in 1890. Muir is described by his biographers
as the Father of National Parks (Wikipedia John Muir).
“Following a devastating 1906 earthquake in San Francisco the city needed water
and electricity. Even though different possibilities existed for supplying these,
Gifford Pinchot, an American forester and politician, supported the economic
groups who sought to build a dam in the Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National
Park. John Muir, and all those who would protect the integrity of Yosemite Park,
fought a media and political battle but in the end “ravaging commercialism” won
the day and the dam was built. Pinchot’s conservationism-oriented management of
nature and his priority on human use of the planet’s natural resources started down
the road of the harmful damaging ideological utopia that today we call sustainable
development (Bergandi 2017, pp. 180–181).”
Sustainable development today is a term that provides the illusion of a protected
environment for future generations while rationalizing the destruction of the environment. Today, the prevailing destruction of the environment raises the question “Is it still
possible to protect the wilderness?” I have modified the question slightly to “Is wilderness protection more an aspiration than a goal that can be achieved?” I will develop the
argument that whether wilderness protection is an achievable goal or not depends on
whether or not the goal can be taken out of the hands of the political representatives and
enshrined as a constitutional right. The argument is based on the premise that a genuine
democracy exists. I will look at the interplay between constitutional rights and values
of political leaders in the context of changing economic conditions.
2 Grounds for Optimism in the Environmental
Rights Revolution
In a 2018 Globe and Mail op ed article, international lawyer and Graham Fellow in
the Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto, Maria Banda, reported on some
positive trends. She stated that “An extraordinary legal revolution is unfolding
around the world. Last month, in an historic ruling, Colombia’s Supreme Court
declared that the Amazon is a legal person with rights – to be protected, conserved
and restored – and ordered the state to reduce deforestation. Further, she stated that
this past year alone, from India to New Zealand, four rivers, two glaciers and a
sacred mountain have been granted personhood. The Inter-American Court of
Human Rights declared that the regional human-rights treaty protects the rights of
the environment as such. U.S. municipalities are joining in (Banda 2018).”
A. Venton
A concern for environmental protection has recurred in diverse forms, in different parts of the world, throughout history. For example, in the late nineteenth and
early twentieth century, John Muir (1838–1914) was an influential ScottishAmerican naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, glaciologist, and early
advocate for the preservation of wilderness in the United States. He helped preserve
Yosemite Valley and his work impacted on the US Congress which passed legislation to create Yosemite National Park in 1890. Muir is described by his biographers
as the Father of National Parks (Wikipedia John Muir).
“Following a devastating 1906 earthquake in San Francisco the city needed water
and electricity. Even though different possibilities existed for supplying these,
Gifford Pinchot, an American forester and politician, supported the economic
groups who sought to build a dam in the Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National
Park. John Muir, and all those who would protect the integrity of Yosemite Park,
fought a media and political battle but in the end “ravaging commercialism” won
the day and the dam was built. Pinchot’s conservationism-oriented management of
nature and his priority on human use of the planet’s natural resources started down
the road of the harmful damaging ideological utopia that today we call sustainable
development (Bergandi 2017, pp. 180–181).”
Sustainable development today is a term that provides the illusion of a protected
environment for future generations while rationalizing the destruction of the environment. Today, the prevailing destruction of the environment raises the question “Is it still
possible to protect the wilderness?” I have modified the question slightly to “Is wilderness protection more an aspiration than a goal that can be achieved?” I will develop the
argument that whether wilderness protection is an achievable goal or not depends on
whether or not the goal can be taken out of the hands of the political representatives and
enshrined as a constitutional right. The argument is based on the premise that a genuine
democracy exists. I will look at the interplay between constitutional rights and values
of political leaders in the context of changing economic conditions.
2 Grounds for Optimism in the Environmental
Rights Revolution
In a 2018 Globe and Mail op ed article, international lawyer and Graham Fellow in
the Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto, Maria Banda, reported on some
positive trends. She stated that “An extraordinary legal revolution is unfolding
around the world. Last month, in an historic ruling, Colombia’s Supreme Court
declared that the Amazon is a legal person with rights – to be protected, conserved
and restored – and ordered the state to reduce deforestation. Further, she stated that
this past year alone, from India to New Zealand, four rivers, two glaciers and a
sacred mountain have been granted personhood. The Inter-American Court of
Human Rights declared that the regional human-rights treaty protects the rights of
the environment as such. U.S. municipalities are joining in (Banda 2018).”
A. Venton