Contact: David Gibson, 518.469.4081
dgibson@adirondackwild.org
Adirondack Wild Endorses Proposal 2: Right of New Yorkers to Clean Air, Clean Water and a Healthful Environment
On Election Day, November 2, Adirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve is encouraging passage of Proposal 2 which would add to the existing Bill of Rights in New York State’s Constitution the additional “right of each person to clean air and water and a healthful environment.”
“We view the proposed right to clean air, water and a healthful environment as a natural and needed extension, applying to every citizen, of existing constitutional mandates of the state under Article 14,” said Adirondack Wild’s David Gibson.
“Article 14 has long made it the policy requirement of the state to protect the Adirondack and Catskill Forest Preserve as forever wild, conserve wildlife and forests, protect natural resources, scenic beauty and to abate air and water pollution.”
“These are very important existing constitutional policies protecting New York’s environment, but they frequently appear most relevant and applicable to policymakers in Albany.”
“How do the forest and other environmental policies required under Article 14 apply and relate to individual citizens? That’s one key question this proposal on Tuesday’s ballot answers. This proposed amendment to Article 1, New York State’s Bill of Rights, makes explicit that it is the right of every person living here to enjoy and benefit from a healthful environment.”
“To us, this proposed ballot measure completes a circle, relating existing state obligations of policymakers to protect our air, water, wilderness, forests, rivers and wetlands with the right of all citizens to such healthful environments. We hope this measure passes.”
Adirondack Wild is inspired by a May,1994 speech by then executive director of the NYS Adirondack Park Agency, Robert C. Glennon, who similarly called for a constitutional right of all New Yorkers to their ecological heritage and integrity, stating that such a right is “as essential a human need as shelter, warmth and love.”
Adirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve is a not-for-profit, membership advocate acting to safeguard wilderness and to promote wild land values and stewardship. More is found on the web at adirondackwild.org.