Toledo's Doomed Lake Erie Bill of Rights and the Future of Environmental Protection

This article explains that the Lake Erie Bill of Rights (LEBOR) is an example of the growing trend of local jurisdictions adopting Community Bills of Rights (CBRs), which are assertions of rights in defense of nature and in nature itself. Although CBRs are generally believed to be unenforceable, their continued proliferation belies a frustration with the ability of existing environmental laws to protect the environment and citizens' efforts to look elsewhere for effective tools.