Help New Jersey Pass a Constitutional Green Amendment to Safeguard our Right to Clean Air and Clean Water

The State of New Jersey is facing a historic opportunity.

New Jersey legislative leaders—Senators Greenstein and Bateman and Assembly members Pinkin, McKeon, Benson, Jasey, Zwicker, and Reynolds-Jackson—have introduced a bill to amend the state Constitution and enshrine every New Jerseyan’s “right to a clean and healthy environment, including pure water, clean air, and ecologically healthy habitats,” and to protect these rights for “both present and future generations.”

For decades, the people of New Jersey have relied federal and state legislation to protect their natural resources. And for decades, the laws have let them down. New Jersey water, air, forests, and other special places from the highlands to the pinelands have been allowed to degrade in ways that are harming people’s lives. A Constitutional provision could help change that.

In New Jersey the right to free speech, freedom of religion and other freedoms are protected as fundamental rights in the state constitution. But New Jersey has NO constitutional provision protecting environmental rights in the state.

Establishing a civil environmental right will drive better government decision-making at all levels of government and will prevent situations or conditions in which land becomes too contaminated, water becomes too polluted, and air too dirty to support healthy lives, including a healthy economy.

In order to obtain this highest level of protection in New Jersey, the bill must pass through both houses of the New Jersey Legislature before the people of New Jersey will be given the opportunity to vote, through the following ballot, on whether or not their right to pure water, clean air and a healthy environment will be protected by the state constitution.

Right now, we need the Assembly and Senate to support and pass Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 80 and Senate Concurrent Resolution (ACR80/SCR30) currently before them. Every Assembly Member and Senator needs to hear how important this Environmental Rights Amendment is from their voters.

Write to your legislators today! Ask them to stand up for your fundamental environmental rights by co-sponsoring (ACR80/SCR30) and actively encouraging legislative leaders to bring up and pass the bill.

• Use the form to the right to automatically be connected with your legislator and feel free to use the sample text provided or edit to make it your own!
• Or you can write your own letter and send it directly via mail or email. Find your legislators here: https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/members/legsearch.asp