But it’s not for the reasons you would hope
A press release by the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund published on May 9th, 2019.
COLUMBUS, OH: Today, the Ohio House of Representatives adopted its 2020-2021 budget with provisions that prohibit anyone, including local governments, from enforcing recognized legal rights for ecosystems.
The political maneuver is a direct response to the historic Lake Erie Bill of Rightspassed by Toledo voters in February. That law recognizes legally enforceable rights for Erie, the 11th largest lake on the planet. It made national and international news.
At a time when the United Nations is reporting “unprecedented” rates of species extinction, such political strong arming to repress efforts to address the global crisis is in keeping with the state’s actions since 2014.
Over a dozen rights-based measures that included recognizing rights for ecosystems have been systematically stymied from being voted on by illegitimate actions taken by the Ohio supreme court, secretary of state, appointed board of elections officials, and the state legislature. Those tactics — ongoing for 5 years — are the subject of a federal Civil Rights lawsuit that communities jointly filed in February 2019.
To read the rest of this press release at its original source please click HERE.