Summary
In 2018, the NGO “Toledoans for Safe Water” campaigned to get a Lake Erie Bill of Rights (LEBOR) recognizing rights of Lake Erie on the ballot. The proposed bill was drafted with the help of lawyers from the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF). The measure passed in 2019, and the LEBOR was added to the municipal charter. The law declared that “Lake Erie, and the Lake Erie watershed, possess the right to exist, flourish, and naturally evolve.” However, the law was struck down by a federal judge in 2020. Later that year, an Ohio court of appeals reversed the court order, reinstating the law. The LEBOR is the first law in the US to recognize a specific ecosystem’s rights.