By Linda Greenstein and Maya K. van Rossum A new vision for environmental protection is taking hold in America with New Jersey leading the way. The state Senate is proposing the passage of an amendment to the state’s constitutions or “Green Amendment,” that will recognize and protect an individual’s rights to clean air and water,
read moreWatch a sneak peak of State Impact Pennsylvania’s program telling the story of Pennsylvania’s very own Green Amendment. Tune in on your local PBS affiliate network on Thursday, October 25th, 8 pm to see how the story of Article 1, Section 27 of the Pennsylvania Constitution came into being, and how it sat dormant in
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To Stop the Cycle of Devastation, We Need to Change the Response by Maya K. van Rossum, Author of “The Green Amendment: Securing Our Right to a Healthy Environment” and Executive Director of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network An exhausted-looking woman walked into the government meeting with a well-worn shoe box, which she gingerly placed on
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Justice Kennedy was never a steady beacon upon which environmentally-harmed communities and states could depend, but often enough he was often the bulwark against the potentially devastating unraveling of critical environmental protections. As the swing vote, Justice Kennedy tipped the Court in a 5 to 4 direction on decisions that rolled back, as well as
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→Immigration violence, → Gun violence allowed to continue, and → Environmental violence …are all part of Trump’s active agenda, and it is an agenda that is resulting in unspeakable, indefensible and enduring violence against children. Donald Trump’s immigration policy is ripping crying and distraught children from the loving arms of their families and locking them
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Including Rolling Back Regulations, Failing to Regulate, and Hiding the Science That Demonstrates Human Health Harms? So what is a person or community to do if Government is allowing, causing and even intentionally advancing pollution and environmental degradation that is devastating their health and lives? How can we hold them accountable? One important way is
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While many have heard of the epic pipeline battles against Keystone XL and Dakota Access, they may not realize that battles large and small against pipelines have spanned communities across the nation. Just this week, we heard reports of a heroic Theresa “Red” Terry taking a stand in a tree, on her own property, challenging
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The founder of earth day was Gaylord Nelson. His holiday has flowered into this amazing commemoration — some have called it the largest secular holiday in the world. Last year, as the forces of anti-environmentalism were gaining increased momentum, kids mobilized and celebrated the March for Science — elsewhere, people protested against climate change. But let’s not forget another
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The Delaware Riverkeeper Network has been working to support constitutional level protection for environmental rights in New York’s constitution. While for years there have been provisions discussing various environmental issues in Article XIV, the provisions do not have the high level strength needed to recognize the inherent and indefeasible rights of people to a healthy
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This op-ed originally ran on Jan 25, 2018 in NewsPress, Part of the USA Today Network. Proposal 23 is just another “feel-good” constitutional provision that will inspire frivolous litigation, rather than needed environmental protection. That’s how Herschel Vinyard, former secretary of Florida’s DEP, characterized this proposed environmental amendment to Florida’s constitution, currently winding its way
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Held v MT, Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Green Amendments for the Generations
forthright.media
The week beginning August 14th, 2023 has been historic for first rulings and actions for the environment and democracy. That morning, MT District Court Judge, Kathy Seeley, rendered her masterful 1...
