By Allen Swanson
Chair, Loantaka Group
Reprinted with permission of the New Jersey Hills Media Group, Whippany, New Jersey, www.newjerseyhills.com.
Our Bills of Rights at the federal and state levels assure we have the freedom to speak, practice religion, privacy, own a gun and more.
There is a movement in New Jersey and across the nation to also grant citizens the right to clean air, water, and a healthy sustainable environment. Legislation has been introduced in New Jersey (Senate SCR15 and Assembly ACR72) for an amendment our State Constitution that includes the following:
(a) Every person has a right to a clean and healthy environment, including pure water, clean air, and ecologically healthy habitats, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic, and esthetic qualities of the environment. The State shall not infringe upon these rights, by action or inaction.
(b) The State’s public natural resources, among them its waters, air, flora, fauna, climate, and public lands, are the common property of all the people, including both present and future generations. The State shall serve as trustee of these resources and shall conserve and maintain them for the benefit of all people.
Amending the New Jersey State Constitution requires a yes vote of 24 members of the State Senate for SJR15 and 48 yes votes for AJR72 in the Assembly. At this time there are 20 sponsors in the Senate and 40 sponsors in the Assembly. The support is bipartisan with four Republicans in the Senate and seven Republicans in the Assembly co-sponsoring the legislation.
Once the legislation is passed, the proposed amendment would be submitted to the citizens as a ballot measure at the next general election. The aptly named Green Amendment has been introduced in previous legislative sessions but has never come up for a vote.
There are several reasons this amendment should be placed on the ballot for the 2023 general election.
We live in a nation where laws and regulations govern the use of our land and our resources. These rules and regulations are often not applied in an equitable manner across all communities. This has resulted in areas of our state and nation which are subjected to more environmental risks and hazards than other areas. The Green Amendment would require that all citizens have equal protection from government or private activities that are harmful to the environment.
The level of protection from practices harmful to our environment, health and well-being is currently controlled by the party that is in power.
This influence in regulatory protections prevents a consistent and uniformed approach to solving issues related to our environment, especially clean air and water.
The Green Amendment would remove this variability and allow planners and policy makers to make decisions based on the rights of citizens rather than profits and ideology.
Government, community, and industry decision makers will need to take into consideration our rights and become proactive in making decisions that are beneficial for our environment.
The increased awareness and care for our environment will lead to reduced costs from the harm created by poor air and water quality. The economic growth in renewable energy, electrification, reduced fossil fuel usage will be spurred on by the increased awareness of the value of these initiatives to meet the goal of providing the clean air and water to which each of us is entitled.
As of 2020, more than 20 states have varying forms of environmental protections within their constitutions. Similar amendments to that proposed in New Jersey are already in place in Montana, Pennsylvania and New York and are pending in several other states.
Information about these bills and any bills in New Jersey can be found at www.njleg.state.nj.us/bill-search. Much more information about the Green Amendment for the Generations may be found at forthegenerations.org.
Editor’s note: The North Jersey Green column has monthly guest authors and is coordinated by the North Jersey Sustainable Municipal Alliance (NJSMA). Questions and comments can be sent to northjerseygreen@gmail.com.