As the New Year begins, Olympians will have two novel avenues to advocate for protection of their rights to a clean and healthy environment.
Standing for Washington will be collecting signatures in Olympia and Tumwater for an initiative to give legal rights to the Budd Inlet Watershed, and Green Amendments for the Generations will advocate for a Green Amendment to the Washington State Constitution. Though these are unique endeavors, they are synergistic, and the two organizations are in contact in their efforts to strengthen legal avenues to protect our environment, something our current legal system has failed to do.
Environmental laws, like the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act, do not expressly protect us or the environment. Rather, regulations under these and other environmental laws set conditions for permits that agencies provide to industry and business interests which merely limit the amount of damage that can be done to the environment and the public health, effectively legalizing pollution. Both Green Amendments and Rights of Nature have emerged to correct these systemic flaws by promoting the rights of human and non-human communities. (Please see How a Green Amendment differs from Rights of Nature Law in this issue).
A Green Amendment is a self executing provision added to the bill of rights section of a constitution to recognize and protect the rights of present and future generations to clean water and air, a healthy environment and stable climate.
It gives this right to the people, not to the legislature or state agencies.
This is not the first time that a Green Amendment to the Washington State Constitution has been proposed. Green Amendments for the Generations has been working to build on the work of previous legislative sessions. Representative Debra Lekanoff introduced the Green Amendment to the state constitution first in 2021, and then again in 2022 and 2024. Support for the Green Amendment has increased at each hearing of the House Environment & Energy Committee, with 300 people testifying in support and 14 cosponsors in the legislature in 2024. With the additional support of EarthJustice, who plan to spearhead the lobbying effort, and 35 Washington based organizations, including the Center for Responsible Forestry, 350 Seattle and Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility, advocates are hopeful the legislation will proceed out of the committee onto the legislative floor this year.
Green Amendments Nationwide
Washington is not alone. A Green Amendment is under consideration in 19 states nationwide, including California, Oregon, Texas and Florida. Three states, Pennsylvania, New York and Montana, already have one in their constitutions.
As early as 1971, Pennsylvania added an Environmental Rights Amendment promising all generations of Pennsylvanians pure water, clean air and a healthy environment to its constitution. It wasn’t until 2013 that the amendment was used by Delaware Riverkeeper Network and 7 municipalities to challenge Act 13, a law that provided giveaways to the gas drilling industry, allowing it to displace local zoning laws and providing automatic waivers for the existing minimal environmental protections. That victory in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court led Maya van Rossum of Delaware Riverkeeper to found the national Green Amendment movement.
Since then, the 2023 court case, Held v Montana, decided in favor of 16 youth plaintiffs who challenged state laws that prohibited government officials from considering climate change impacts of the laws. In December 2022, a year after a Green Amendment was passed in New York State, the Supreme Court of New York determined the state had violated the Green Amendment by allowing noxious emissions from a landfill to pollute the air in Fresh Air For The Eastside v the State of New York, et. al,. It’s also been used to block industrial gold mining outside Yellowstone National Park and also by local officials in Pennsylvania to reject a development that planned to clearcut 89 acres of forest.
How would such an amendment be used here in Washington, where the Board of Natural Resources approved the clearcut of 10 Legacy forests at its last meeting in December?
Washington law requires a a 2/3 vote by both chambers of the legislature to pass a constitutional amendment before it is put to a vote of the people, which then only needs a simple majority to pass. The strategy of who will sponsor the Green Amendment in the Washington House and Senate is currently being worked on by advocates who are looking for community members to support them as they speak with legislators and their staff.
Ways to Help
You can help the Washington Green Amendment coalition by becoming a Green Amendment Ambassador, speaking to your community groups and spreading the word. Sign the petition and find out how to advocate for a Green Amendment in Washington at WA Green Amendment
A map of proposed and passed green amendments. From forthegenerations.org
The Washington Green Amendment to be re-proposed in 2025 will read:
Article I of the Constitution of the state of Washington shall be amended by adding a new section to read:
Article I, section . . .. (1) The people of the state, including future generations, have the right to a clean and healthy environment, including pure water, clean air, healthy ecosystems, and a stable climate, and to the preservation of the natural, cultural, scenic, and healthful qualities of the environment. (2) The state, including each political subdivision of the state, shall serve as trustee of the natural resources of the state, among them its waters, air, flora, fauna, soils, and climate. The state, including each political subdivision of the state, shall conserve, protect, and maintain these resources for the benefit of current and future generations. (3) The provisions of this section are self-executing. |
Esther Kronenberg is an editor of and frequent contributor to WIP
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