West Virginia Black Bear

WEST VIRGINIA GREEN AMENDMENT

July-August 2024 Newsletter

It’s a Summer of Green Amendment Celebration!

Green Amendments For The Generations Is a People Powered Movement.

Before reading on about the successes of this summer, please take a moment to support our work & the communities with whom we work nationwide.

When Maya founded the Green Amendment movement in 2014,  the prospect of radically transforming U.S. environmental protection by securing enforceable environmental rights recognition nationwide, to many, was an unachievable dream. Undeterred, she pressed on. And now, just 10 short years later, communities nationwide are experiencing and celebrating the many values of pursuing and securing Green Amendment success.

We know we still have a long road ahead. It takes time and perseverance to secure and solidify systemic reform that will protect all people, all generations, and the natural world we depend upon. But we are up for the challenge.

Vision, dedication, and perseverance we have in abundance.   

But we need additional resources to give communities the assistance, tools, training, support, and expertise they seek to advance and enforce  Green Amendments nationwide.

Read on to learn more about our most recent successes – and please consider investing  in the Green Amendment movement.  

Every penny of support helps to secure transformational & meaningful change.

DONATE HERE

Now back to the Work, Inspiration, & Hope that You can Help Sustain

National Green Amendment Day (July 13) 2024: Lifting Our Voices in Unison

  • Nationwide people took to social media to call out their Green Amendment values. What did they say?!
  • In New York – Advocates & Communities Rallied

New Yorkers gathered from across the state to celebrate, rally, and march in support of the passage and enforcement of New York’s Green Amendment and to challenge Governor Hochul, Attorney General James, and the Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner to embrace the New York Green Amendment as not only an obligation, but also an OPPORTUNITY to protect environmental rights and secure environmental justice across New York. 

Watch the rally video to witness as Green Amendments Mother and Founder Maya van Rossum, joins with NY Senator Robert Jackson, Sachem Sam George of the Cayuga Nation, environmental justice leader and County Councilmember Mert Simpson, NY Green Amendment litigant and champion Yvonne Taylor, defense-from-fracking scientist Dr. Anthony Ingraffea, and Youth Leader Anneke van Rossum to lead the rally & march for New York Green Amendment rights.

You may want to be seated when you see
Maya challenge the Governor and Attorney General on their
Green Amendment stance!

Newest Green Amendments Climate Victory Secures Powerful Success for Pennsylvania Communities:

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has once again demonstrated the unparalleled value of having a constitutional environmental right that meets the definition of a “Green Amendment” for people impacted by pollution and the climate crisis. 

On July 19th, the court ruled that Pennsylvanians harmed by climate changing air pollution, and the heat, flooding, and other weather related impacts of the climate crisis, have a right to intervene in a key climate case and to put forth arguments asserting their constitutional environmental rights, including arguing the state has a constitutional obligation to meaningfully addresses climate change. In the absence of the Pennsylvania Green Amendment, the environmental organizations and their members may not have had the legal foundation necessary to intervene in this landmark legal action.

Learn more.


SPOTLIGHT

Wisconsin

This month we spotlight Wisconsin where a Green Amendment was newly advanced in 2024 and legislative champions are working with GAFTG to ensure the best language possible.  

A zoom meeting provides a great opportunity to stay connected nationwide no matter where you are – this meeting with Wisconsin leaders had to be undertaken in an office complex lobby, but it got the job done. 

Summer Outreach Campaigns

This Summer we have had a lot of great outreach organized and advanced by leading activists in Michigan, Connecticut, and New Mexico. 

National Caucus of Environmental Legislators

GAFTG was invited by our key partner, the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators, to talk with legislators from across the nation about the transformational power of the Green Amendment movement. Legislative leaders from coast to coast joined to learn about, talk about, and strategize about the advancement of Green Amendment protections nationwide and in their states.

The Green Amendment Action App – The Place To Be for Hot and Time Sensitive News

With an action-packed fall & winter just around the corner for Green Amendments in multiple states, it is important as many people as possible join the Green Amendment Action Platform.  

This is a closed community that operates like Facebook, Zoom, Youtube, and other social platforms. It is the first place we post hot news and opportunities to engage – like a last minute hearing, press conference, or strategy call – and is a place where you can share your ideas, ask your questions, and engage with others in the movement.

If you are not yet on the platform please go to the website and join. Sign up to get notifications of new postings at whatever intervals best suit you.

Sign up here for the national community, and consider joining the state communities of greatest interest.


Are you inspired now to support the spread of, organizing for, and passage and enforcement of Green Amendments across the country? It’s very easy & quick to do – Green Amendments are a game-changer for environmental protection, environmental justice, climate security and generational protection.  But to keep it going and growing, we need your support. Please donate now, whatever you can, HERE, so we can continue to fight for our collective future. 

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