As ecosys­tems col­lapse and the cli­mate emer­gency inten­si­fies, the gov­ern­ment often uses its author­i­ty to allow the very harm that it is sup­posed to pre­vent. Sound crazy? It is. The grant­i­ng of per­mits is a bat­tle­ground where cor­po­ra­tions, with their oodles of mon­ey to buy influ­ence, have the upper hand over nature. In the face of cor­po­rate greed and the enor­mi­ty of the cli­mate cri­sis we need action now before it is too late. An ancient and endur­ing prin­ci­ple is the trust doc­trine. It asserts pub­lic prop­er­ty rights to cru­cial resources such as forests, rivers, min­er­als, and fish­eries. Its core log­ic com­pels gov­ern­ment, as trustee, to pro­tect nature and to safe­guard the resources we rely on for sur­vival. UN Sec­re­tary-Gen­er­al Guter­res says, ​“We must end the mer­ci­less, relent­less, sense­less war on nature.” Amen to that.