Erika Schelby is the author of Looking for Humboldt and Searching for German Footprints in New Mexico and Beyond (Lava Gate Press, 2017) and Liberating the Future from the Past? Liberating the Past from the Future? (Lava Gate Press, 2013), which was shortlisted for the International Essay Prize Contest by the Berlin-based cultural magazine, Lettre International. Schelby lives in New Mexico. She is a contributor to the Observatory.
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Addressing the climate crisis is becoming a legal obligation, not a political choice
A landmark International Court of Justice advisory opinion has clarified that states have a duty to prevent climate harm, marking a shift toward enforceable climate accountability and strengthening the emerging framework of ecological and rights-based environmental law.
April 15, 2026
Rethinking our place in nature means rethinking the law
As Indigenous knowledge gains recognition and environmental crises deepen, a growing movement argues that granting legal rights to nature can protect it from exploitation.
April 14, 2026
The growing push to grant legal rights to nature
From Ecuador to New Zealand and India, a growing number of countries are recognizing the legal rights of nature, though not without legal and political challenges.
April 13, 2026
How environmental laws are shifting the focus from humans to nature
Environmental laws are evolving from prioritizing human benefits to recognizing nature’s intrinsic rights; this is reflected in the small but growing number of countries that grant legal personhood to natural entities.
April 10, 2026
The Intricate Connection of Birdsongs to Human Language
Birdsongs have inspired poets and lovers, becoming one of the philosophical focal points in ancient Greece and Rome. They have also led to several long-ago debates about the relationship between birdsong and human language.
February 12, 2025
Navigating the Energy Transition: Renewables Abound, but Grid Challenges Loom
Fast-forward: If many of these young individuals translate anxiety into action, this could initiate a great global fossil-hunting stampede, triggering a rough rocking motion for the fossilized apparatus of governments still beholden to fossil fuel dependencies and obsolete grids minus a plan.
June 11, 2024
