Can a lake have rights? Toledo votes yes.

Fed up with recurring, pollution-fueled toxic algae blooms, voters in Toledo, Ohio approved the “Lake Erie Bill of Rights.” Among other things, the bill guarantees the right of the lake and its surrounding watershed “to exist, flourish, and naturally evolve.”

The new law, passed last month, is the latest sign of a growing movement to recognize the rights of nature. Advocates are pushing a transformation in how the law views nature – from something that’s merely property, existing for the benefit of people, to an entity that has inviolable rights of its own. It’s a view that detractors say could cause legal chaos, and proponents see as a natural evolution of both the law and the moral consciousness of our society.

“We need to change how nature itself is treated under the law, much like we need to change how communities are treated under the law,” says Mari Margil, associate director of the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund

A fledgling movementDo inanimate objects have interests?Translating stewardship into law