HARTFORD, CT – Advocates and Democratic lawmakers voiced their support for a resolution Friday to add a “Green Amendment” to the state Constitution to enshrine environmental rights into law during a news conference at the Legislative Office Building.
Republicans who oppose the idea questioned the Democrats’ priorities.
The resolution, Senate Joint Resolution 193, would amend the state’s Constitution to include the right of all people to a clean, safe and healthy environment, and set the State of Connecticut as trustee of its natural resources.
The amendment would hold environmental rights to the same standard as constitutional liberties, like free speech or freedom of religion.
“Each person shall have an individual right to clean and healthy air, water, soil, ecosystems and environment, and a safe and stable climate for the benefit of public health, safety, and the general welfare,” the bill states.
Sen. Mae Flexer, D-Killingly, and Rep. Matt Blumenthal, D-Stamford, the co-chairs of the Government Administration and Elections (GAE) Committee, spoke in support of the amendment.
Flexer described this bill as part of a nationwide movement to recognize the need to ensure environmental rights.
“Each and every day we are all feeling the impact of climate change,” Flexer said. “We are feeling the impact of decades of decisions where our rights concerning the environment were not put front and center. We are feeling the impact of decades of decisions that have caused our environment to be degraded, to be polluted, and for climate change to be in full force right now.”
Blumenthal offered similar ideas.
“It’s time to enshrine these rights where they belong, in our state’s constitution,” he said. “They are inalienable, they belong to the people, and every person should be able to live free of the harmful effects of pollution and climate change.”
House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford, and Rep. Gale Mastrofrancesco, R-Southington, released statements after the news conference in opposition to the proposal.
“It’s going to rain Saturday, so we should amend the state Constitution?” Candelora said. “By promoting this flimsy ideological proposal, Majority Democrats, and particularly the leadership of this committee, continue to show just how out of touch they are with the mainstream concerns of Connecticut residents.”
Mastrofrancesco called the proposed amendment vague and said it leaves the door open for anyone to sue the state, “which would clog our already overburdened court system with litigation.”
Maya van Rossum, founder of the national nonprofit organization Green Amendments For The Generations, said lawsuits haven’t been an issue.
“The number of lawsuits that we are seeing are not prohibitive. We don’t see a massive onslaught of lawsuits,” Rossum said. “First and foremost, zero frivolous lawsuits have been brought using Green Amendment language in three states where they exist.”
The “Green Amendment” – a term coined by Rossum – has been adopted by Montana, Pennsylvania, and New York. Rossum said on average the have seen three to 10 lawsuits in each state, but all have brought meaningful change for plaintiffs.
She said that the amendment is working in the three states that have adopted it, providing them the necessary protections of their environment and natural resources when the law fails to do so.
In order for the amendment to be added to the Constitution, it would have to make it out of the GAE Committee and get a 75% majority vote in the House and Senate. If it goes through this session, there would be a ballot question for voters to answer during the election in November 2024. If a majority of Connecticut’s voters approve it, the amendment becomes law.
If the resolution doesn’t get 75% support in the General Assembly this year, but still gets a simple majority, it will be taken up again by the General Assembly during its 2026 session.
If it gets another simple majority vote for a second time, it will appear on the ballot during the November 2026 election.
