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Pittsburgh US Community Protection from Natural Gas Extraction Ordinance

United States of America
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Approved in 2010
Local law
Rights Of Nature
Natural communities and ecosystems
All Nature
CELDF (Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund); Members of the Pittsburgh City Council
Government, NGO

Summary

In 2010, Pittsburgh City Councilman Bill Peduto began appealing to the Pennsylvania environmental community for help developing a strategy for trying to limit drilling prospects in Pittsburgh, and possibly similar actions on the state level. A special meeting of the city Council was convened to meet with local and national experts about such a strategy, including a municipal ordinance that would ban drilling within the city’s borders. City council members ultimately asked CELDF to draft an ordinance, which bans corporations from engaging in natural gas extraction, gives residents the right to water and self-government, and recognizes rights of nature, declaring “natural communities and ecosystems…possess inalienable and fundamental rights to exist, flourish and naturally evolve within the city of Pittsburgh.” Pittsburgh City Councilman introduced the Community Rights Drilling Ban Ordinance at the City Council Meeting on September 7, 2010. The Council unanimously adopted the ordinance on November 16, 2010.

To see the original legal document(s) for this initiative, click the links below:

Pittsburgh's Community Protection from Natural Gas Extraction Ordinance [PDF]

To see other supplementary information related to this initiative, click the links below:

CELDF Press Release
Shareable - In Pittsburgh, a community bill of rights helped ban fracking

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