Oregon Coalition for an Environmental Rights Amendment
How does the Amendment Language Work?
It is a legal tool necessary to stop government-permitted environmental harm to health and safety, while promoting sustainability.
Amendment Text
1. All people, including children and future generations, have the inherent fundamental right to a clean, safe, and healthy environment, including but not limited to clean air, clean water, thriving ecosystems, and a stable climate system. This right shall not be abridged unless justified by a compelling state interest achieved by the means least restrictive of the right.
2. All of Oregon’s public natural resources are the common property of all the people, including generations yet to come. As trustee of these resources with affirmative fiduciary obligations, the State shall conserve and maintain them against substantial impairment for the benefit of all people.
3. Any person may obtain declaratory or equitable relief against state action or inaction allowing harm or the threat of harm to public safety or health to enforce the rights and duties guaranteed under this section. Prevailing parties securing protection of rights or enforcement of duties under this section shall be entitled to costs of litigation, including reasonable attorney and expert witness fees. The rights and duties guaranteed herein are self-executing and enforceable upon enactment, without implementing legislation or exhaustion of other remedies.
Explanation
The right is fundamental and forward-thinking.
Like other fundamental rights like religion and speech, this amendment places a paramount importance on a healthy environment and makes it abundantly clear that the People of Oregon prioritize public safety and health over short-term private profit, demanding responsible governance.
It creates “constitutional direction” for the government to focus on the safety and health of children and future generations based on the best available science to protect long-term needs and interests. It also does away with sacrifice zones, “NIMBYism,” and the political convenience of kicking the can down the road.
The right has the teeth to be taken seriously.
To address what has been lacking in the current legal framework, this amendment gives clear standing to enforce a clear right. Plaintiffs – whether natural, nonprofit, or for-profit “persons” – must focus on “public safety and health interests” to bring a claim, which helps to prevent abuse or misuse of the amendment.
With the fee shifting provision, the amendment empowers all Oregonians with access to environmental justice, including those without the upfront funds to bring a good case to court. This, too, is a game changer. With clear enforceability for what we already expect from the government, there will likely be internal reviews and corrective measures to become constitutionally compliant and avoid lawsuits.
The right is ready on Day 1 to restore balance.
This amendment adds to, strengthens, and protects Oregon’s current rights and expectations to a healthy environment, and while it doesn’t require the Legislature to do anything for the right to be effective, it prompts and protects good legislation working toward the amendment’s aims – restoring balance between us and nature, ensuring we hand over the same to future generations as best we can. This will be a clear duty.