Environmental rights amendment

An environmental rights amendment, also called a green amendment, is type of amendment usually proposed to a constitution or a bill of rights. These amendments guarantee citizens the right to a healthy environment. Related rights included in these proposals often include a right to a stable climate, clean air and water, environmental justice, preservation of natural, scenic, esthetic and historic values of the environment.

The right to a healthy environment can be implemented into constitutional law other ways, such as written into constitutions in their drafting, such as in Tunisia, or enforced through climate change litigation, such as in Colombia. In the United States, most advocates are focused on amending existing state constitutions or enforcing existing state constitutions, such as in Held v. Montana, where youth won a trial court judgment for enforcement the existing state constitution.

United States
In the United States, while environmental rights are mentioned in a number of state constitutions, the state of Pennsylvania was the first to pass an actual environmental rights amendment as part of their state's bill of rights in 1971. Montana added environmental rights in 1972. It was not until 2022 that New York state added an environmental rights amendment to their bill of rights. There is no federal environmental rights amendment in the United States.

Pennsylvania's environmental rights amendment was proposed by conservationist Ralph W. Abele about 1969 when he became executive secretary of the Joint Legislative Air and Water Pollution Control and Conservation Committee of the Pennsylvania House and Senate. In 1972 he became executive director of the Pennsylvania Fish Commission. During his entire career Mr. Abele was a strong voice for protecting the state's lakes, rivers and streams.

There are several ways to add an environmental rights amendment to a state constitutions in the United States. Although each state is slightly different, in general the state legislature has to pass legislation for the amendment, then it goes before the voters to decide if it will actually be added to the state constitution. A citizen petition can also get an amendment before the people, if the petition can get enough signatures from residents in the state, and go though some other steps, then it can be put before the voters. Citizens in Florida are attempting to do this.

The states of California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Iowa, Kentucky, New Jersey, New Mexico, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Washington, and West Virginia have drafted, or are drafting, legislation to add environmental rights amendments to their state constitutions. Other states may well be added to this list as time goes on. nine states have legislation proposed that could potentially put it on the 2024 ballot. Hawaii, New Jersey, and Washington states have made the most progress toward this goal.

It is important for the wording of an environmental rights amendment to be specific so that it is enforceable. With specific rights clearly spelled out, such amendments could potentially keep cases out of courts since citizens and regulators would have clear text to refer to when evaluating potential projects. Some are concerned that these amendments will increase the number of legal cases.

Held v. Montana was the first constitutional law climate lawsuit to go to trial in the United States, on June 12, 2023. On August 14, 2023, the trial court judge ruled in the youth plaintiffs' favor, though the state indicated it would appeal the decision. Montana's Supreme Court heard oral arguments on July 10, 2024, its seven justices taking the case under advisement.