Making a Healthy Environment a Constitutional Right in Maryland

"Environmentalist and philanthropist Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin has teamed up with state legislators, interfaith leaders and environmental advocates to spearhead an effort to change Maryland's constitution."  So reads a January 25, 2019 article in the Baltimore Jewish Times.

Rabbi Cardin, who has been a real friend to me and to NeighborSpace, put me on notice of the effort by email last week.  The legislation, filed as House Bill 472, adds the right to "a clean and healthy environment" to the Declaration of Rights in Maryland's Constitution, a list that is currently 47 items in length and includes such important things as freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the right against self-incrimination.  In the legislation, a clean and healthy environment is defined to include (1) clean air; (2) pure water; (3) a healthful environment; (4) ecosystems that sustain the State's natural resources; and (5) the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic, and aesthetic values of the environment.

The legislation provides that "the State's natural resources are the common property of every person." It requires the state and local governments to protect these resources as trustees and it has teeth, permitting governments and individuals to enforce the rights it affords against any public or private party in a legal proceeding. If passed, it would be submitted to voters in the 2020 General Election for approval.

According to the Maryland Environmental Health Network's website, the legislation is modeled after amendments that were passed successfully in Pennsylvania and Montana. The rationale for it goes something like this: constitutionally guaranteed rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, things at the heart of our democracy, are devalued by a damaged environment. Pennsylvania's amendment was used successfully in 2012 to render elements of a fracking bill unconstitutional.