This article by Alex Mester and Mark Zaborney appeared in The Toledo Blade on April 3rd, 2019.
The Lake Erie Bill of Rights charter initiative in Toledo is reaching the international stage.
Two local organizers of the effort have been invited to the United Nations General Assembly in New York later this month to speak about their work during an Earth Day event. Markie Miller and Crystal Jankowski of Toledoans for Safe Water, the force behind the initiative approved by Toledo voters in February, are headed to the “Ninth Interactive Dialogue of the General Assembly on Harmony with Nature” on April 22.
Ms. Miller said she did not know the UN has been paying attention to the Glass City grassroots effort, and said it shows that the world is watching with interest.
“This is not some anomaly that took off in Toledo,” Ms. Miller said. “It does have international attention and viability.”
Maria Mercedes Sanchez, coordinator of the UN Harmony with Nature Program, cited the Toledo initiative and rights of nature in her invitation. According to a news release late Wednesday from Toledoans for Safe Water and the Ohio Community Rights Network, she said that under the current system of law, nature is treated as property, while the UN program regards nature as “a subject with rights and legal personhood… I take this opportunity to congratulate you for the key role you have played in the passing of legislation granting rights to Lake Erie.”
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