A significant problem in relocalization, as well as many other advocacy issues, is corporate "personhood", which was created by the US Supreme Court in a 19th century case, Santa Clara vs Southern Pacific. Judicial activism was not limited to the Warren Court.

This issue was raised at the Community Solutions Conference which several of us attended. It gives corporations the same rights as natural persons under the US Constitution, including the rights to sue, to lobby, and to donate to political campaigns (as long as they jump through the right hoops). Due to the fact that corporations have a lot deeper pockets than most of us, this has given them disproportinate political power to individuals or non-corporate advocacy groups. For all practical purposes, corporations own (at least) the two major political parties.

There is an organization in Pennsylvania, Community Envirommental Legal Defense Fund, that is dedicated to opposing corporate personhood. They offer free and low cost legal services to communities and organizations that want to oppose particular corporate activity within a community, and also offer model legislation and ordinances for communities.

I recommend checking out their website as it something that could be valuable to our group, both for helpful knowledge and as a possible resource. Their address is http://www.celdf.org.

Herb