Need for an Environmental Human Rights Amendment
In times of crisis, we fall back on our fundamental liberties and freedoms of worship, speech, press, and our rights to vote and peaceably assemble. Today, with a fragile democracy, raging pandemic, and warming planet, we are organizing with coalition partners to elevate the right to live and breathe in a healthful environment into the Maryland Constitution.
It’s simple: cleaner air leads to healthier children. Yet, almost 90% of Marylanders live in areas with unhealthy air by EPA standards. The few remaining coal plants in Maryland produce a fraction of our power yet almost all of the toxic sulfur dioxide. We know the link between burning coal and chronic conditions like asthma. We know that race -- not class -- is the number one indicator of where a toxic pollution source is located. We see the disproportionate burden of incinerators, highways, power plants, and heavy industry on communities of color as health impacts during COVID.
There is evidence and precedent that a constitutional amendment that enshrines environmental rights into law is effective and legally prudent.
A Yale UNITAR workshop provided insight into its effectiveness in over 180 nations and states. The New York State Bar Association published a detailed analysis and recommendation of the adoption of a constitutional environmental right and 68.9% of NY voters approved the ballot measure in 2021.
Are we waiting for this right to become enshrined in the US Constitution while our democratic principles are under attack? No! The Maryland Chapter of the Sierra Club would prefer not to wait until our beloved coastline is underwater to enact the state constitutional amendment for environmental rights. We must codify the right to a healthful environment into our Maryland constitution.
Check out our recent virtual rally and resources to make change in Maryland!
Resources for Taking Action
We need your help to get a constitutional amendment for Environmental Human Rights! To be adopted, Maryland’s proposed Amendment will need to receive a three-fifths vote in both houses of the Maryland General Assembly and then be approved by voters on the ballot in November. Several other states have enacted similar amendments, and New York State voted with 68.9% in support of an amendment in 2021.
By elevating the right to a healthful environment to the same level as such fundamental rights as freedoms of the press, religion, and speech, the Amendment would provide constitutionally based protections in addition to those set forth in existing environmental laws and regulations.
PETITION ORGANIZATION SIGN ON CIVIC LEADER LETTER
Written Resources
FACT SHEET FACT SHEET (IN SPANISH) THE BILL - HB 596
- Legislating a ‘healthful environment’ for Marylanders | Guest Commentary - Baltimore Sun (guest commentary, Mar 3, 2022)
- Opinion: Here's Why We Need an Environmental Human Rights Amendment in Md. - Maryland Matters (opinion, Feb 22, 2022)
- ‘Environmental rights are human rights’: Students rally in Annapolis for climate change cause (dbknews.com) (news article, Feb 20, 2022)
- Students in Maryland calling on leaders to take climate change seriously - YouTube (WUSA9 news footage, Feb 18, 2022)
- Supporters Launch a Renewed Push for Environmental Human Rights Amendment, Maryland Matters (news article, Nov 29, 2021)
- Maryland Sierra Club Makes Enacting the Environmental Rights Amendment to the State Constitution a Priority for 2022 (press release, Oct 29, 2021)
- Inspired to Promote Environmental Human Rights in the Maryland Constitution (blog by Luca Grifo-Hahn, Sept 28, 2021)
- MD Campaign for Environmental Human Rights (mdehr.org)
Events to Watch
Below are links to videos that support the EHRA.
- Statewide Environmental Summit (Jan 25, 2022)
- 2022 Virtual Rally for MD Environmental Human Rights Amendment (Jan 15, 2022)
- 2022 Eastern Shore Environmental Legislative Preview Day 1 (Jan 8-9, 2022)
- Southern Maryland Community Forum on EHRA (Nov 18, 2021)