Voters in Everett, WA have approved an initiative making the city the first in Washington state to grant legally enforceable rights to a natural ecosystem.

This Fall, I have been co-teaching a course on Rights of Nature with the historian Jill Lepore. This is the first time either of us have taught the subject and it has proven a wonderful opportunity to explore with our students this emerging movement — one that some have praised as “A Legal Revolutio...