Securing Climate Justice Through Green Amendments: the Held v. Montana victory & what it means for the nationwide movement 

The Held v. Montana case set a huge precedent, affirming Montanan’s constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment. For the first time ever, it declared that their fundamental right includes the right to a safe and stable climate.

What other states have constitutional Green Amendments or are seeking to achieve them? Are there other victories based on Green Amendments that protect our environment and environmental rights?

Join us on October 4 at 3pm EST to hear from leading environmental minds on how Held v. Montana and Green Amendments intersect to provide unparalleled protections for present and future generations.

Register Here

SPEAKERS:

Michael Gerrard

Michael B. Gerrard is Andrew Sabin Professor of Professional Practice at Columbia Law School, where he teaches courses on environmental and energy law and founded and directs the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law.   He is also former Chair of the Faculty of Columbia’s Earth Institute and holds  joint appointment to its successor, the Columbia Climate School. Before joining the Columbia faculty in January 2009, he was partner in charge of the New York office of the Arnold & Porter law firm; he is now Senior Counsel to the firm.  He practiced environmental law in New York City full time from 1979 to 2008. He was the 2004-2005 chair of the American Bar Association’s Section of Environment, Energy and Resources.  He has also chaired the Executive Committee of the New York City Bar Association, and the Environmental Law Section of the New York State Bar Association.

Since 1986, Gerrard has written an environmental law column for the New York Law Journal.  He is author or editor of fourteen books, two of which were named Best Law Book of the Year by the Association of American Publishers: Environmental Law Practice Guide (twelve volumes, 1992) and Brownfields Law and Practice (four volumes, 1998). Among his other books are Global Climate Change and U.S. Law (with Jody Freeman and Michael Burger) (3d ed. 2023); Law of Clean Energy (2011); Climate Engineering and the Law: Regulation and Liability for Solar Radiation Management and Carbon Dioxide Removal (with Tracy Hester 2018); and Legal Pathways to Deep Decarbonization in the United States (with John Dernbach 2019).

He received his B.A. from Columbia University and his J.D. from NYU Law School.

Jose Almanzar, Esq.

Jose Almanzar, Esq. is an environmental attorney, public speaker, and EJ advocate with prior technical experience as an environmental scientist. Jose’s practice is diverse and includes representing business entities, non-profits, and municipalities that encounter environmental issues as part of their regular course of business. He is also the Co-Chair of the Environmental Justice Committee for the Environmental & Energy Law Section of the NYS Bar Association. In this capacity, he regularly speaks and writes about environmental justice issues, and how attorneys and professionals have a duty to advance the interests of environmentally overburdened and disadvantaged communities.

Ivonne Norman, Esq.

Ms. Norman is a civil litigator, environmental justice advocate and non-profit board leader. Ms. Norman is Co-Chair of the Environmental Justice Committee at the New York State Bar Association and the founder of the EJ Newsletter. The Committee’s May 2023 Newsletter featured pending litigation asserting causes of action under New York State’s Green Amendment which continue to shape its interpretation across the state. In addition, her recently co-authored article “Extreme Heat Meets Environmental Injustice: Policy Solutions to Help Disadvantaged Communities Battle the Urban Heat Island Effect,” featured in the latest issue of NYSBA’s The New York Environmental Lawyer, provides an analysis of the Green Amendment and how its implications and enforcement are being tested in the courts. Ms. Norman is also a member of the Environmental Law Committee at the New York City Bar Association and of WE ACT For Environmental Justice.

Kacy Manahan

Kacy Manahan joined the Delaware Riverkeeper Network as a staff attorney in 2020. Her work focuses on challenges to natural gas infrastructure, federal permitting challenges, and state environmental and land use law. Prior to joining the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, Manahan practiced environmental law in a private boutique firm in New Jersey. Manahan also served as a clerk to the Honorable Robert J. Gilson, J.A.D., in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division. Manahan graduated magna cum laude from Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon, with a Certificate in Environmental, Natural Resources, and Energy Law. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Media and Communications from Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. Manahan is licensed to practice in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Maya K. van Rossum

Maya K. van Rossum is the founder of the national Green Amendment movement and the Green Amendments For The Generations which is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring & securing passage of Green Amendments in every state constitution across our nation, and ultimately at the federal level (when the time is right).  Green Amendments — a term coined and defined by van Rossum in her 2017 award-winning book (recently updated in the 2nd edition) The Green Amendment, The People’s Fight For a Clean, Safe, and Healthy Environment) — recognize and protect environmental rights on par with other inalienable human, civil and political freedoms. She is also the Delaware Riverkeeper and 30 year leader of the regional Delaware Riverkeeper Network.