Coalition Urges Environmental Rights in State Constitution

Connecticut legislators are considering an amendment to the state constitution that would ensure environmental rights are basic civil liberties.

The “Green Amendment” would give each state resident the legal right to healthy air, water and soil.

If it passes, the amendment would ensure that environmental rights are protected in every level of government decision-making emphasized Kim Stoner, coordinator of the Connecticut Environmental Rights Amendment Alliance,.

“If implemented effectively, the Connecticut Environmental Rights Amendment will increase the focus of the state and local governments on preventing pollution for all people, rather than just on permitting and managing pollution,” Stoner said.

Supporters also hope the proposal will push local and state leaders to better protect the environment and communities of color, which often disproportionately bear the health impacts of pollution.

“Not only for our sake, but for the sake of future generations, to give them a fighting chance so that they’re not spending the rest of their lives fighting for their lives,” said Kat Morris, founder of the environmental justice group Seaside Sounds. “I think this is one of those choices that could be pivotal in terms of addressing the climate crisis.”

Testifying before the Environment Committee in support of the measure, retired science teacher Len Yannielli of the Guntown Environmental Group said “HJ37 would allow us at the grassroots to take preventive steps concerning pollution and to hasten environmental solutions.”

“There is a huge methane plant in Oxford, close to the Naugatuck border,” he said. “We breathe in the 2.5 micron carbon particulates that are a product of burning fossil fuels. Also, methane gone astray from a web of pipelines enters the atmosphere aggravating climate change. Carbon particulates are insidious as, unlike vats of molten metals, these air pollutants are invisible.

“The closest housing development to this methane plant in Naugatuck is South Meadow Apartments. It is populated mainly by people of color. Thus the important environmental justice section of the Ct Environmental Rights Amendment.”

“On the solution side,” concluded Yannielli, “brown fields up and down the Naugatuck Valley need remediation. It is very expensive. Money that our country is sending off to the Ukraine in a proxy war with Russia, is badly needed here.”

Amending the state constitution requires approval from both lawmakers and state voters. The proposed amendment wouldn’t appear on the ballot until November 2024 at the earliest.

.