New film documents battle for nature’s rights
People have rights. Corporations have rights, sometimes the same ones people do. But what about nature? If certain communities and environmentalists had their way, ecosystems would be allowed to defend themselves against exploiters and polluters.
In November 2010, Pittsburgh became the first major municipality to pass a “rights of nature” law, which essentially made the region’s rivers and other natural wonders rights-bearing entities that could be legally protected from human interference.
The rights of nature movement and the progress it’s made in Pennsylvania and other states are the subject of a new documentary, “Invisible Hand.” Produced by Pittsburgh-based investigative journalism nonprofit Public Herald, the film highlights residents’ yearslong battle in tiny Grant Township, Indiana County, to stop a fracking waste injection well they feared would taint their water supply.
“It became a very black and white, cut and dried fight for them,” said Melissa A. Troutman, co-founder of Public Herald and codirector of “Invisible Hand.” “They, as a community, decided that the most important thing was their water, and they weren’t going to let anyone spoil it.”
The documentary was executive produced and narrated by actor Mark Ruffalo and is available to watch via www.invisiblehandfilm.com and through virtual screenings, including a virtual youth international screening on March 13 featuring a discussion with Ruffalo, Troutman and co-director Joshua Boaz Pribanic.
Its name came from the economic concept of the invisible hand, coined by Adam Smith in his 1759 book, “The Theory of Moral Sentiments.” The 18th-century Scottish economist and philosopher maintained that selfish actions by individuals can still produce societal benefits. The documentary contends that the invisible hand of capitalism has forced communities and activists to push for laws that hold reckless corporations responsible for environmental harm.
“It’s about how democracy evolves,” said Pribanic, a cofounder of Public Herald. “Rights of nature is one of these evolutions in democracy where we started with human rights ... and the new reality that needs to be accepted is rights of nature.”
He is a Pittsburgh native who lives in Wilkinsburg. Troutman hails from Potter County and lived in Pittsburgh for a few years. The two started Public Herald in 2011 and previously collaborated on the 2013 documentary “Triple Divide” about fracking in Pennsylvania.
In addition to the film’s deep dive into Grant Township residents’ fight, it explores an attempt by Toledo, Ohio, lawmakers to pass the Lake Erie Bill of Rights and efforts by indigenous people in the Dakotas and elsewhere to keep their land pollution free. “Invisible Hand” is partially narrated by degawëno:da’s (he who thunderz) of the Wolf Clan, who tells of a Seneca Nation prophecy about how man must make peace with nature to avoid extinction.
“What weaves all of these pieces together is the prophecy, because it’s that prophecy that gives the instructions of how to live in harmony with nature,” Troutman said. “And that’s essentially what the rights of nature movement is trying to do, take that indigenous knowledge in spirit and shove it into our western legal system where nature is defined as property.”
The film got a boost from Ruffalo, who has become a staunch advocate for the rights of nature movement and was a big fan of “Triple Divide,” Troutman and Pribanic said.
“‘Invisible Hand’ offers an alternative, a paradigm shift occurring across the world that’s healing not just symptoms of environmental disaster, but the actual disease,” Ruffalo said in a press release about the film. “This movement changes everything. It honors indigenous wisdom and shifts our priorities. It restores balance by placing nature at the center of our decision-making processes and gives the power that corporations stole back to our communities.”
Completing “Invisible Hand” was made more difficult by legal challenges from corporations. As Troutman put it, it’s “exhausting to constantly bear witness to pain and helplessness.”
Troutman and Pribanic believe their documentary has the power to sway the way many folks view nature — not just as an abstract idea but as a living being with unalienable rights.
“If you’re unhappy with the pollution to our waterways, our air and governments’ answers to those problems,” Pribanic said, “then you need to watch this film.”