What is the Green Amendment, and what would it accomplish?
Democrats in the New Mexico House and Senate have introduced an amendment to our state’s Constitution that would give New Mexicans a new human right, the right to a healthy environment, in House Joint Resolution 2 and Senate Joint Resolution 2. It could be killed by committee in this brief session. If it fails to pass, it will likely to be reintroduced during the 2023 60-day session. If it passes, it will be sent to the voters and placed on the next election ballot. Then, if a majority of voters agree, the amendment would be added to our state’s constitution.
The Green Amendment would add language to our state’s Bill of Rights protecting the rights of New Mexicans “to a clean and healthy environment, including water, air, soil, flora, fauna, ecosystems and climate, and the preservation of the natural, cultural, scenic and healthful qualities of the environment.” It states our government must serve as trustee of the natural resources of the state, conserving, protecting and maintaining them for the benefit of all people including future generations.
Who doesn’t want the right to a clean and healthy environment? Most people believe they already have it. But we don’t, and it is not that simple.
Only Montana and Pennsylvania have strong constitutional provisions regarding environmental rights, but they were rarely used. Most states don’t consider environmental rights to be human rights. This may be changing as these “green” amendments are increasingly seen as an important tool in the toolbox needed to fight climate change.
Peter Iwanowicz of Environmental Advocates NY, says “Our first goal was to actually add this right that most people thought they already had.” “What the amendment will do,” he added, “is usher in a new ethos of preventing pollution rather than merely controlling it or dealing with crisis after the fact.”
At the Glasgow Climate Summit, the United Nations Human Rights Council recognized the human right to a “clean, healthy and sustainable environment.” Some 150 countries already have some form of this right in their constitutions, but the United States does not. This is why it is being addressed by each state.
Individuals and organizations would have the ability to sue local governments or states for failing to fulfill their duties as trustees of our natural resource. Will they be misused as some fear? Corie Bell, a Natural Resources Defense Council lawyer, doesn’t think so. “People who want to bring lawsuits under these amendments are usually very careful about the facts and careful about the use of the amendment because it is such as important right.”
Pennsylvania’s constitutional right to a clean environment was used to overcome a draconian law that required communities to allow drilling and fracking, gave the industry eminent domain authority, and included medical gag rules preventing doctors treating victims of the industry’s chemical exposure from sharing information about the dangers of these chemicals. It was used to challenge permits in Montana for gold mining.
New Mexico’s Green Amendment advocates feel the amendment will result in better environmental decision-making that prioritizes environmental protection and pollution prevention and will fill the gaps in existing laws. Opponents believe it may cause harm to industries, including mining and fossil fuels. Only the Senate and House will decide whether to allow people to vote on this amendment. The question will be whether they believe the people are intelligent enough to make that decision or if they think it should be banned from us even voting on this particular amendment.
Judith Polich is a New Mexico resident who is a climate columnist. She can be reached at [email protected].