One of the most abused lakes of North America, Lake Erie, may soon enjoy a new, elevated status.
US Person has
advocated previously in this space
{02.10.17, Rights of Nature}, about a legal concept that is novel in Anglo-Saxon jurisprudence, but recognized elsewhere in the world. That is giving legal status to animals and natural features in order to protect them from extinction, pollution and over-exploitation. Tomorrow the citizens of Toledo, Ohio, a once industrial metropolis that was a major source of lake degradation, will vote on a city charter amendment that gives a body of water, Lake Erie and its watershed, legal rights. If passed it would be the first law of its kind in the US.
An activist supporter of LEBOR (Lake Erie Bill of Rights) says the law will give citizens legal standing to protect the lake through human representation in court since, "the government isn’t going to do this for them". The law is controversial. It pits farmers whose agricultural run off continues to pollute the lake against city people who rely on it for potable water. The Catch-22 is that much of the pollution is legal. Farmers hold EPA permits to discharge field runoff contaminated with a toxic cocktail of fertilizers and pesticides.
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| environmental protest, '68 |
In the late 60s the lake was so polluted, the media dubbed it dead; dead fish washed up on its shores with regularity.
[photo left] After the passage of environmental protection laws like the Clean Water Act of 1972, and almost a half century later, Lake Erie water quality is much improved. But in 2014 a algae bloom caused by too much nitrogen from agricultural runoff made 100 people ill, and the city was without drinking water for three days. Fights broke out in the August heat over buckets of clean water. 2017 saw another record algal bloom, the third largest. Global warming will
undoubtedly cause more of these toxic outbreaks, researchers estimate. Some citizens feel helpless to stop the continued pollution of the lake.
Activists heard about the concept of "the Rights of Nature" enshrined in law elsewhere in the world (i.e. Bolivia, Ecuador, and Lafayette, CO). So they decided to think outside of the box by proposing a law giving legal status to their water supply. It was not easy to get the proposal before the voters of Toledo. Supporters had to struggle for two years, all the way to the Ohio Supreme Court before the measure was approved for a vote. Predictably, conservative business interests have pushed back. labeling supporters "out of state
extremists", "
anti-business", and "Erie doesn't pay taxes."
US Person has heard it before, but everyone--red or blue--has to drink water to survive. The state has an obligation to protect the public's health. When it fails to do so, citizens in a democracy must act to protect themselves.
