Abstract
Tracing the evolution of the “rights of nature” movement from Indigenous law and early environmental ethics to modern global applications, this article reframes the debate around codification of legal rights for nature from moral theory to legal efficiency, arguing that the United States implicitly recognizes rights of nature within its environmental jurisprudence and statutory framework. Through detailed analyses of the Endangered Species Act, National Environmental Policy Act, Clean Air Act, and Clean Water Act alongside corresponding case studies, the author demonstrates how courts and Congress have already expanded standing, redefined injury, and recognized nature’s inherent right to exist and flourish. These cases reveal a consistent judicial pattern: plaintiffs bring claims on behalf of ecosystems under existing environmental statutes, and courts that interpret such statutes according to legislative intent and use plain readings effectively uphold nature’s inherent rights. The article concludes that formal federal recognition of nature as a legal person with standing would not represent a radical shift, but rather a logical and more efficient codification of the principles already embedded in U.S. environmental law.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Anna Belinski-Huber,
Rights of Nature: An Argument for Judicial Economy,
66
Nat. Res. J.
85
(2026).
Available at:
https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/nrj/vol66/iss1/6
