Toledoans for Safe Water – Markie Miller – The Blade
The Blade
April 3, 2019, 11:50PM
Two Lake Erie activists will speak about their work on the Lake Erie Bill of Rights during an Earth Day event at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, the Ohio Community Rights Network announced late Wednesday.
Speaking will be Markie Miller and Crystal Jankowski, of Toledoans For Safe Water, the force behind the Lake Erie charter initiative approved by Toledo voters in February.
Maria Mercedes Sanchez, coordinator of the UN Harmony With Nature Program, cited the initiative in her invitation. According to a news release 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.”
The event, “The Ninth Interactive Dialogue of the General Assembly on Harmony with Nature,” will take place April 22 at the UN.
“It is gratifying to see the hard work of Toledo community members to protect the legal rights of Lake Erie recognized across the country and the world, as a model for change,” said Sherry Fleming, a board member of the Ohio Community Rights Network, in a statement.
Ms. Miller is on the network’s board of directors.