Support the Lake Erie Bill of Rights
An Open Letter in Support of the Lake Erie Bill of Rights and the Rights of Nature...
Dear Defenders and Advocates of Lake Erie,
The world is watching as the campaign for the Lake Erie Bill of Rights (LEBOR) continues to fight for placement on the special election ballot scheduled for February 26, 2019. Even though LEBOR received the unanimous vote from Toledo City Council on December 4, 2018, another obstacle was placed in the way at the December 10 Board of Elections meeting. A formal protest to keep LEBOR off the ballot was filed by a single city elector represented by McTigue and Colombo in Columbus, Ohio. The law firm has represented protests to keep other Bills of Rights off the ballot in other Ohio cities including Columbus and Bowling Green. A hearing is scheduled to take place on December 20th.
The Lake Erie Bill of Rights is a first-in-the-nation Ecosystem Rights of Nature law put forward by the people to protect a distinct natural body of water and ecosystem.
Toledoans for Safe Water, the grassroots organization in Toledo behind the Lake Erie Bill of Rights, became engaged in rights-based organizing after the 2014 Water Crisis. Nearly 500,000 individuals were unexpectedly left without drinkable, useable water for three days due to a toxic algal bloom in the Western Basin of Lake Erie.
Since that time Toledoans have been increasingly frustrated by the lack of action and accountability in stopping the unnecessary and preventable destruction to our drinking water and the Lake Erie ecosystem. The government response to prepare for the next harmful algal bloom season included more water testing and advanced warning systems, increased chemical treatment, and voluntary nutrient reduction plans by industrial agriculture. These are inadequate and unacceptable responses to this systemic political and environmental problem.
Rights of nature supports a new legal framework for addressing environmental issues by giving citizen groups standing to sue major polluters on behalf of Lake Erie in civil court, enabling citizens to directly address pollution and harm to their drinking water before the harm occurs. Currently, the corporations that pollute our waterways hold more rights than the communities that drink the water or the water ecosystem itself.
As stewards of this delicate ecosystem, we recognize our responsibility to protect the very system that sustains us. We assert our right to clean air, water, and soil, and the right to enact local laws through our right to self-government. We reject the idea that industry has the authority to disrupt our right to a safe, clean environment for personal or economic gain.
The Lake Erie Bill of Rights initiative is part of a growing national Community Rights Movement. Local groups of concerned citizens across the country are fighting for their right to say “no” to unsustainable projects and unjust regulations that threaten their livelihood and well being, as well as nature’s. Rights of Nature, part of a growing international movement, are recognized in India, Colombia, Ecuador, and New Zealand, and is quickly spreading to more countries such as Australia, Cameroon and Nepal. We ask for your support in order to show our Ohio local and state electeds that we will not be left behind on this global action. If they won’t protect the environment that sustains all life on this planet, then the people will.
Toledoans for Safe Water
Join the movement. Sign on to this letter as an individual, a business or an organization to show your support for the Lake Erie Bill of Rights and Rights of Nature movement everywhere.
Thank You to our supporters!
A J Matthews
Abigail King
Adam Wisniewski
Agnes Herrmann Slimak
Aleane Kleckley
Alexis Beshara
Allison King
Amanda J Rost
Amjad Doumani
Amy Oberlin
Andrea Schmidt
Angela Brigle
Angela Mazzolini
Anita Levin
Anna Marie ArsenaArtrong
Anne Craig
Anne Ricciardi
Anne S Wise, MD
Anne Tincher
Annely Germaine
Annely Germaine
Annie Hubatch
Ashley Kijowski
Bailey Mendlik
Barbara Andersen
Barbara B. Davis
Barbara Laxon
Barbara Laxon
Barbara Lee Harding
Barbara Unger Lengen
Barbara VonBenken
Barbara VonBenken
Beatrice Guenther
Ben G. Price
Benjamin Cohen
Bethany Miller
Beverly Rice
Bill Lyons
Bill Wall
Bob Krasen, Member, Columbus Community Bill of Rights
BOES
Boggs Center
Brad Bolton
Bradley E Eldridge
Bradley Eldridge
Bradly Mathias
Brenda C. Kluhsman
Brenda Kluhsman
Brenda Wallace
Brian P. Wells
Brian T. Houlehan
Brian William Taylor
Brittany Meade
Brynn Schmitt
C.A. Matthews, editor The Revolution Continues
Calvin Stewart
Camille George
Carla Rautenberg
Carley RochesterCobb
Carol A Brenstuhl
Carol G. Thombs
Carol S. Cribbs
Casey Riley
Catherine Podojil
Cathy Kortyka
Cavin Atkins
Chad Nicholson
Charles Herndon
Charles W Lynd
Christa Petryszyn
Christine Hughes
Christine Silvestri
Christine Wilcox
Christopher Wojciechowski
Cindy A. Matthews
Cindy Sue Heffran
Clair Van Bloem
Claire Paxton
Colleen (Kay) Kerezy
Columbus Community Bill of Rights
Connie Hammond
Courtney Kundmueller
Courtney Patterson
Craig Robert Clement
Crystal Jankowski
Crystal Zevon
Curt Hubatch
Cynthia Heil
Cynthia Springer
Cynthia Vigliotti
Daniel Hubatch
Daniel Israel Vasquez
Daniel Yount
David Hyde
David L. Blesing, Sr.
David L. Lybarger
David sperling
David Tvedt
Dean Sieck
Deborah L. Hogshead
Debra Hill
Debra K Shankland
Debra Weaver
Del Ehresman
Denise Phillips
Dennis G. Lambert
Dennis R. Lieb
Desiray Liner
Diane St Germain
Dolores Whitman
Donna Heim
Donna Koch
Dorothy Silver
Doug Pribe
Douglas Braun
Douglas R. Darrell
Dr. Suzanne Patzer
Drake Chamberlin
Dutch
Edson A Knight
Elaine Hullihen
Elaine McCrate
Elayna Duitman
Elizabeth Dunne
Elizabeth Erin Shinners
Elizabeth Harding Harrington
Elizabeth Lentz
Ellen Davidson
Ellen E Barfield
Ellen Greene Bush
Ellen Shelburne
Emelyn Lybarger
Emily Evans
Emily Poor
Emma Shook
Eric Everhard
Eric K. Deamer
Erik P. Stark
Erin Bell
Erin Dumond
Eron King
Eva Barr
Evan Har
Ferne Clements
Forest Jahnke
Gary Freed
Gehard Bedding
Georgeanna DeCarlo
Gered Crawford
Gerhard Bedding
Gerry Werhan
Gloria Tavera
Greg Coleridge
Gregory Zyzanski
Hamilton
Hanna Harrington
Heather Hurwitz
Helen A. Spalding
Henrietta Bibbs
Hilary Tote
Ingrid Martine
Isaac jw Coblentz
Isabel T.
James Parrish
Jan Bliss
Jane E. Jacobson
Jane Miller
Jane Penwell
Janet S. Curry
JANICE KINCHY
Jeanette Eckert
Jeanne Haseley
Jeffery B. Johnston
Jeffery R Klein
Jeffrey Lee Eldridge
Jennifer Dube
Jennifer Flynn
Jennifer Harris
Jennifer Karches
Jeremy Crawford
Jess Dannery
Jill wyse
Jim Herold
Jim Tripp
JoAnn Baker Paul
Joanne McCarthy
Jocelyn Langworthy
Jody Dana
Jody NiibinKwe Bond
Joe it’s Crawford
John G Booker Jr
John Holian
John Lipaj
John Michael Durback
John Proch
John W. Herberg
Jonathan Koenig
Joseph Cronin
Josh Jankowski
Joshua B. Pribanic
judith fredrichs
Julia Harding
Julie Nieset
Julie Regula
Julie Regula
Julie Stepp
Justine Smith
Kai Huschke
Karen Berger
Karen Dahn
Karen Porter
Karen Wood
Karen Yount
karl novak
Karla Neeley
Karyn Deibel
Katherine Abboushi
Katherine Kinstler
Kathie Jones
Kathleen Brigidina
Kathleen Helbling
Kathleen J. Bradley
Kathryn Mockensturm
Kathy McGlone
Kathy Mockensturm
Katie Geiser
Keith Sadler
Keith Wilson
Keleen McDevitt
Kelly Jacobs
Kenneth Ashe
Kenny Jones
Kent Chamberlin
Kim Mann
Kimberly Kavanaug
Kristal Moore
Kristin Hady
Kristine
Kyle Stroempl
Larry Askins
Larry N. Marsh
Laura coholich
Laura M. Ohanian
Laura McEwen
Laurel Gress
Lauren Biernacki
Lauren Sargent, PhD
Laurie L. Espinosa
Lawrence Schermbeck
Lee Balek
Lehigh University
Libby Loser
Linda Grove
Linda New
Lisa A. Kavanaugh
Lisa Kochheiser
Lisa LeVally Evans
lois romanoff
Lonnie Jo Hynds aka Bierlair aka White
Loretta Huston
Lori Ann Mottolo
Lou Pendleton
Louie Columbus
Louis J. Brodnik
Lyle Brigle
Lynne Marshall
Make More Love
Malinda Harnish Clatterbuck
Marcia Goldstein, Athens, Ohio
Mardy Townsend
Maria Koch
Maria Sause
marilyn k hunt
Marilyn Matevia
Markie Miller
Martina One Star
Mary Ann Schaepper
Mary Ann Schaepper
Mary Costello
Mary Emhoff
Mary Gerhart
Mary Igoe Meyers
Mary Louise Hawkins
Mary Malicki
Mary Nutter
Mary Ogden
Mary StollBarnt
Mary Sue Gmeiner
Marylynn Skiver
Matthew JGB Lassiter
Matthew Kuhns
Maud Walsh
Meghan Wynne
Melanie J. Roll
Meryle A. Korn
Michael Davenport
Michael E. Bartus
Michael J Sandman
Michael J. Nestor
Michele Zelazny
Michelle Phillips
Michelle Sanborn
Mike Ferner
Molly McFadden
Molly Reed
Monica Christofili
Monica Kolovich
Mora Dewey
Naia Miller
Nancy J Horton
Nancy liela Wallace Nelson
Nat Cohen
natalie harger
Nathan Ricciardi
Nicole Welever
Nina McLellan
Nolan Mates
nonaffiliated
Ohio resident.
Pamela Nock
Pamela J Crace
Pamela Lee St John
Pamela Patterson
Pamela Unger
Pat Alexander
Pat Walker
Patricia Blochowiak, M.D.
Patricia McGlauchlin
Patrick E. Wright
Patrick Hunter
Patty Sheehan
Paul Helbling
Paul Mirsalis
Peggy Love
Peter Dube
Peter Hug
Phillips Apiary
Piper R Hall
Please Select
Quinn G Walsh
Rachael Bliss
Rachel Wakefield
Randall J Moyer
Randy Hodak
Raymond DiCarlo
Raymond lewis
Rebecca Bundy
Rev Beverly Lewis
Rev Keith A Rasey
Rev. John Wallace
Richard Nock
Richard Ball
Richard C. Schlageter
Richard K.Brackin
Richard Schmidt
Robert Daine
Ron McCutcheon
Rosemary Hug
Ruth Ann Wagner
S. Frey Stegman
Salam hawary
Sam Eldridge
Sandra Engle
Sandra Ryan
Sara Myers
Sara Sadoski
Sarah Householder
Sarah Maxwell
Sarah Moon
Saralise Ward
Sean Nestor
Shannon Thorsen
Sharlane Gubkin
Sherry Straub
Sladjana Krstic
Sonya rihan
Staci Stevens
Stacy Jurich
Stefania Czech
Stephanie Riccobene
Stephen Gabor
Sue Boyd
Susan Catterall
Susan Fowler
Susan Heath
susan knotek
Susan Miller
Susan Righi
Susan Saccardi
Susie Beiersdorfer
Suzanne Halstead
Suzanne M Husband
Suzanne Tayal
Tana Stanton
Tarak Kauff
Teri Utz Bersée
Theresa P Pretlow
Thomas Brazee
Thomas Burnham French
Thomas Filipczak
Thomas Lovdal
Thomas McDonald
Thomas Pretlow
Thomas R Derby
Thomas Wasilewski
Tim Chavez
Tim Collingwood
Tina Ferner
Tish O'Dell
Todd Jelen
Tonia S. Gallagher
Tonya Yanok
Trent McRitchie
Twila Slind
Valerie Bernes
Valerie Hunter
Vanessa Pesec
Vickie Askins
Victoria Hennessy
W. E. White
Walter E. "Ted" Auch PhD, FaCT Ohio Board Member
Wasim Hawary
William Collins
William Lyons
William Thombs
Yi Pang
Yolanda Shy
Yvette Tavernier
