If we give nature rights, and I hope, some day, that we do, it will mean we need to COMPLETELY CHANGE how we think about nature. A total reset. We will need to realize that no matter how much we enjoy certain types of nature, all types exist on their own. Whether or not we like them.

The dam got a carve out to make jobs. And it did make jobs, to be clear. But there was no talk about what OTHER options there were for jobs. There was no effort to try something else. Because the environment isn't for its own sake in the US. It's for us.

No, the dam was to make a lake. Because people in the area wanted jobs, and the lake would make it a nice recreation area for people to come and go boating and fishing and camping and swimming. The lake was created purely to make a type of nature people liked.

But what really strikes me about this story is WHY the dam was built in the first place and what it says about our relationship to nature. Because the dam would prevent some flooding, but that wasn't the reason. It doesn't make electricity.

Congress passed the Endangered Species Act, and so Congress created a carve out. Specifically for the dam. The Tellico dam still stands today. (Scientists moved the fish to other streams, the fish thrived! It's no longer endangered! So that's good)

And the suit? WON. The fish WON. Rights of nature win right? No. Because this is the US of A and if we want a dam so help us we'll get a dam.

This fish, the snail darter, was living in the Little Tennessee River in 1973, and people wanted to build a dam on the river. This was the only river the fish lives in, putting it at risk of immediate extinction. So people sued, because there was a new act. The Endangered Species Act!

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Sadly I do not, I in fact don't have access to my own stuff there!

This story has everything: a toad, a road, a town divided, big philosophical questions, multiple lawyers, herpetologists, angry Facebook posts, children dressed up as amphibians, and more. Add it to your weekend longreads queue!

I've been working on this story for 10 months at this point, and I can't believe it's finally here. The rights of nature seem simple. In theory, they ARE simple. In reality? Who will suffer so a species survives?

one of these is poison and one is snack... Lives rent free in my head.

Screaming into the void: "Exploring the false healing sensation of the wind forcibly massaging my vocal chords."

Wait til you hear about the horses that can turn on a shower!