Following a Daily Show profile of the Lake Erie Bill of Rights, the Ohio legislature has agreed on a new state budget that bans Rights of Nature enforcement.
This media release was published by the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund on July 18th, 2019.
COLUMBUS, OH: Yesterday, the Ohio Senate and House agreed on a new state budget that includes language to ban Rights of Nature enforcement.
Rights of Nature is a new legal paradigm that is gaining momentum in Ohio, across the U.S., and around the world. More than thirty communities in the U.S. have adopted Rights of Nature laws, which recognize the rights of ecosystems to exist and flourish, protecting communities and nature from increasing environmental threats. Similar laws and court decisions are in place in New Zealand, Ecuador, Colombia, and other countries. In February, Toledo, Ohio, residents overwhelmingly adopted the Lake Erie Bill of Rights – the first law in the U.S. recognizing the rights of a distinct ecosystem.
This week, The Daily Show featured the people of Toledo behind the Lake Erie Bill of Rights, determined to protect their only water source from harmful corporate activities, by using Rights of Nature. In response, the state of Ohio is cracking down to stop them.
The language in the Ohio budget bill creates a section (2305.011) that defines “Nature” and “Ecosystem” in law, and goes on to ban legal actions on behalf of or by nature or ecosystems. The budget reads:
“Nature or any ecosystem does not have standing to participate in or bring an action in any court of common pleas.
No person, on behalf of or representing nature or an ecosystem, shall bring an action in any court of common pleas.”
(Read the rest of this press release at its original source HERE.)