IN THE FIELD: State Legislators Seek Constitutional Amendment
State legislators from 37 states held a national call-in day
9/25 urging an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to protect
environmental rights of Americans, says NY Assemblyman Richard
Brodsky, chairman of the NY Assembly's Environment committee.
The text of the amendment reads: "The natural resources of the
nation are the heritage of present and future generations. The
right of each person to clean and healthful air and water, and to
the protection of the other natural resources of the nation,
shall not be infringed upon by any person." Reminiscent of the
Sierra Club's leadership in the Environmental Bill of Rights
campaign earlier this congress. Though we may have had a tough
audience in the 104th Congress, it sounds like some state
legislators have found religion. Maryland State Sen. Brian Frosh
says that America's environment "faces powerful new threats, both
political and legal" and that the Constitution is "the only way
to guarantee our rights and our heritage."