Podcasts about green amendments

As federal environmental protections face weakening, a grassroots movement is gaining strength across the U.S., focusing on environmental rights rather than policy adjustments. Maya van Rossum, environmental attorney and founder of the Green Amendments For The Generations movement, returns to Sustainability in Your Ear to discuss that states' response to cuts to federal environmental regulations. Maya explains how state-level constitutional amendments are redefining environmental protection as an inalienable right, akin to freedom of speech. She outlines the importance of constitutional change for achieving genuine environmental justice, the necessary steps for mobilizing community support, and how rights-based environmental movements are establishing sustainable, community-driven strategies for a healthier future. For over a decade, Maya has spearheaded this initiative, successfully passing Green Amendments in Pennsylvania, Montana, and New York. Currently, more than 20 states, including Oregon, are contemplating similar amendments. The discussion also addresses the recent rally at the Oregon state capitol, which showcased the momentum behind the Right to a Healthy Environment Amendment (SJR28) and signifies the evolving role of grassroots environmental advocacy. Unlike typical legislation that can be reversed with changing political climates, Green Amendments establish essential protections for clean air, water, and climate at the constitutional level. This framework provides citizens and communities with a robust legal foundation to challenge polluters and safeguard the environment for future generations, particularly during periods of political regression. For more information about the Green Amendment movement and to track developments nationwide, visit forthegenerations.org

In this episode, we cover countries standing up to preserve their ocean resources, an explosive piece on anti-environmentalist profiling, rapid-firing of positive sustainability news (because everyone needs that), government funded gaslighting and - get this - robot bees! ARTICLESFast Good News:- Portugal says NO deep-sea mining: (Sign the petition) https://www.change.org/p/say-no-to-deep-sea-mining/u/33216052- The new robot in town that collects DNA from deep within the ocean: https://www.oakbaynews.com/local-news/victoria-company-combats-biodiversity-loss-with-deep-sea-robot-7835949- The "Climate Change Reality Check": https://variety.com/2025/film/news/the-wild-robot-good-energy-climate-change-reality-check-1236313682/- Is 47's bullshit backfiring?https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/18/trump-climate-accountabilityhttps://www.wsj.com/articles/with-trump-2-0-these-climate-donors-are-thinking-differently-fbe0e18cOther news we're talking about:- Investigative journalism shuts down an anti-environmentalist profiling headed by former monsanto PR exec: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/10/v-fluence-pesticide-critics- F*cking Robot Bees: https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2025/02/04/researchers-develop-new-breed-robot-bees-pollinate-future-indoor-farms/1761738261390/Also Check out the Green Amendments with our friend Maya: https://forthegenerations.org/

(Airdate 1/13/25) Maya K. van Rossum is the founder of Green Amendments For The Generations, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring passage of Green Amendments in every state constitution across our nation, and also at the federal level when the time is right. Green Amendments recognize and protect environmental rights on par with other inalienable civic and political freedoms. She is the author of the book "The Green Amendment, Securing Our Right to a Healthy Environment."https://forthegenerations.org/ https://www.dominiquediprima.com/

(Airdate 1/13/25) Maya K. van Rossum is the founder of Green Amendments For The Generations, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring passage of Green Amendments in every state constitution across our nation, and also at the federal level when the time is right. Green Amendments recognize and protect environmental rights on par with other inalienable civic and political freedoms. She is the author of the book "The Green Amendment, Securing Our Right to a Healthy Environment." https://forthegenerations.org/ https://www.dominiquediprima.com/

We start GREEP #179 with JOHN STEINER and LEAH GREENBERG, co-founder of the great grassroots juggernaut Indivisible. Leah is joined by ANDREA MILLER of the Center for Common Ground, RAY MCCLENDON of Communities United, MAYA VAN ROSSUM of the Green Amendments campaign, and HOLLY MOSHER of Why Do You Vote, who shows us a wonderful video of folks explain to us why, in fact, they vote. KENNY BRUNO chimes in with cogent questions about the impacts of Gaza and other key issues in the upcoming election. DENNIS BERNSTEIN, renowned host of KPFA/Pacifica's Flashpoints, tells us about the great LARRY BENSKY. Emmy-winning DAVID SALTMAN adds to the eulogy, as does KPFK Chair Tatanka Bricca, who also underscores the need to become a voting member of the Pacifica Radio Network. VINNIE DE STEFANO updates us on the Julian Assange case. WENDI LEDERMAN urges us to think about Gaza and how it might affect the upcoming election. RICK GOODWELL urges us to make sure we and our neighbors are, in fact, registered to vote. RAY LUTZ updates us on the crisis in our voting machines. PAUL NEWMAN, MIKE HERSCH and MYLA RESON get into the struggle of a southern high school and statue-defenders intent on being named for Confederate traitors. LYNN FEINERMAN conjures “the furies” of great and powerful females and their “boiling rage” against Trump and the usurpation of the rights of women. Georgia voter PATRICK THOMPSON reports from the corrupt killing fields of Georgia now dropped into the depths of dead nuclear age. WILLIAM GRAVES ends with the insanity of what Myla has called FELONIUS TRUMP and the terrifying future he promises us all. Next week, in GREEP #180, we will move deeper into the art and science of successfully fighting back…See you in Solartopia!!!    

NUKE ATTACK ON SOLARTOPIA; UNCOMMITTED; RESHAPING THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE We start GREEP zoom #175 with the great LINDA SEELEY from the Mothers for Peace of San Luis Obispo explaining the latest hearing on shutting the Diablo Canyon nukes. Linda explains that the extreme heat, pressure and radiation inside a nuclear reactor have embrittled Reactor Pressure Vessels, robbing nukes everywhere of their braking systems…rendering them all vulnerable to the next apocalyptic explosion. As Linda says, we have far more battery storage in California than Diablo produces….so who needs nukes?  Answer:  NOBODY!! MIKE THALLER of Progressive Democrats of America tells his personal horror show of what the San Diego utility has done to his electric bill (hint: it's not pretty). Ohio's CONNIE KLINE tells us about the gargantuan pro-nuke bribery fire still melting the Buckeye State. Green power pioneer RON LEONARD gets us to the solar nitty-gritty. MAYA VAN ROSSUM tells us how Green Amendments can help shut the nuke industry. STEVEN SONDHEIM offers his wisdom on saving the planet. VINA COLLEY of southern Ohio warns us against the dangers of reviving the Piketon enrichment facility, which has “killed so many people in the community.” VINNIE DE STEFANO gives us an update JULIAN ASSANGE just as Joe Biden has extolled freedom of the press at the National Correspondents Dinner. The abortion issue is dissected by WENDI LEDERMAN, including an on-the-ground report of “baby killer” accusations all over. MIKE HERSH explains the “Uncommitted” movement to get Biden's attention on war and democracy. LYNN FEINERMAN demands that the political mainstream pay more attention to the young and the marginalized. RUTH STRAUSS and MYLA RESON bring reason and balance to the discussion of a nation in upheaval. From Ann Arbor, we hear from BRIAN STERNBERG on Michigan's confused but vital debate over what happens to electoral delegates. We conclude with the debate over reshaping the Electoral College and its devastating impact on real democracy.

In a world grappling with environmental challenges, Maya K. van Rossum emerges as a powerful advocate for change. As the Founder of the National Green Amendment movement and the Delaware Riverkeeper, her life's work revolves around safeguarding our planet's most precious resources. In this episode, Maya shares her inspiring journey, the significance of green amendments, and her relentless pursuit of a cleaner, safer, and healthier environment. Join us as we delve into the heart of environmental activism and discover the impact of Maya's unwavering dedication to our planet. [00:35] - About Maya K. van Rossum Maya is the Founder of the National Green Amendment Movement and the Delaware Riverkeeper. She has been recognised, awarded, and felicitated several times. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/tbcy/support

JULIAN ASSANGE / DIABLO CANYON / GREEN AMENDMENTS / ISRAEL - PALESTINE PASSION Our Grassroots Emergency Election Protection Zoom #154 opens with a timely, critical report on Julian Assange from VINNIE DESTEFANO in Los Angeles. We then join LINDA SEELEY from the Diablo Canyon Mothers for Peace on the status of the critical fight to keep that insane nuke shut. CATHY WOLF updates us from Portland on the Pine Tree Alliance campaign to take over the electric utilities in Maine. MAYA VON ROSSUM fills us in further with the power of her GREEN AMENDMENTS in states where environmental protection has been taken to another level. In the second hour we plunge into the Israel-Palestine horror show with a series of heartfelt, highly intelligent, carefully limited three-minute statements. This powerful, uniquely civil section includes deeply moving statements from nearly 20 people, including DAVID SALTMAN, LISSA MATROSS, VINNIE DESTEFANO, DOROTHY REIK, DENNIS BERNSTEIN, WENDI LEDERMAN, MIKE HERSH, LYNN FEINERMAN, JUSTIN LEBLANC, MYLA RESON, STEPHEN FRASER, DR. RUTH STRAUSS and many more. In a society tearing itself apart over the deep, passionate, extremely inflamed differences raging around this insane war, we prove that it's possible to have a civil, productive, interesting and important session on a conflict that could easily devolve into the end of human life as we know it. We hope this session will become a small but significant step in the opposite direction. SHALOM / SALAAM….

There may indeed be a singular solution that addresses environmental racism, the climate crisis, pollution, and withering US ecosystems simultaneously. That solution? Green Amendments.Constitutions are the people's documents. Although getting environmental rights included may indeed be ... well, difficult, advocates argue it's possible. In fact, it's already being done.Today attorney and environmental activist Maya van Rossum empowers us to mobilize for constitutional change that will protect our right to a healthful climate once and for all. Here's a preview:[3:30] Held v. Montana's landmark win: Breaking down its implications in laymen's terms[9:30] If environmental rights are indeed human rights, why didn't our founding fathers include them in the US Constitution?[12:30] How legislative remedies (ahem ... The Clean Air Act, The Safe Drinking Water Act) legalize pollution and harm[25:00] The power lies in grassroots organization. Join us! Resources Mentioned/Further Reading:How Elites Ate the Social Justice Movement by Fredrik deBoerThe Green Amendment: The People's Fight for a Clean, Safe, and Healthy Environment by Maya van PossumGreen Amendments For The Generations--Join our (free!) community here.Find your tribe. Sustainable Minimalists are on Facebook, Instagram + Youtube.Say hello! MamaMinimalistBoston@gmail.com.Our Sponsors:* Thank you to LifeStraw Home! Use code SUSTAINABLE for 20% off. https://lifestraw.com/* Thank you to our sponsor, Armoire! Use code SUSTAINABLE for up to $125 off your first month. http://www.armoire.style/Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/sustainable-minimalists/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Youth plaintiffs arrive at the courthouse during the Held v. Montana trial. Photo by Robin Loznak / Our Children's Trust. This summer, the climate movement celebrated a landmark win. Sixteen young people, who sued the state of Montana back in 2020 for promoting fossil fuels, prevailed in their lawsuit against the state, enjoying what has been described as a sweeping win. Their case was the first constitutional climate case and first youth climate case to go to trial in the United States. It rested on several constitutional guarantees, including the plaintiffs' rights to equal protection, liberty, health and safety, and notably, to a clean and healthy environment. That last one is a relatively unique constitutional protection: Montana is one of only three states in the country with a so-called green amendment, putting the right to a clean and healthful environment on par with other fundamental rights in the state. But a growing movement seeks to embed similar rights in state constitutions across the country. Maya van Rossum, founder of Green Amendments for the Generations, joins Earth Island Journal Managing Editor Zoe Loftus-Farren to discuss the green amendment movement, the Held case, and why self-executing constitutional environmental rights could be an especially powerful tool for climate activists. The post The Case for Constitutional Green Amendments appeared first on KPFA.

Strange weather continues to drive our conversations this summer, but an encouraging court ruling and a dismaying move in Africa are also worth talking about.  Check our showpage at massclimateactiondotorg/blog for the hot links.

CATASTROPHE IN MAUI; OHIO / MONTANA VICTORIES; THE NYTIMES AWAKENS TO RENEWABLES The horrifying disaster in Maui is Mother Nature's way of telling us that with global boiling, there are no more safe places. JOHN & MARGO STEINER say where to send our ALOHA IN ACTION support for those in this stricken paradise. TATANKA BRICCA, MYLA RESON, DOROTHY REIK, JEFFREY BARKDULL and JUSTIN LEBLANC give us their mahalo in a time of tragedy. @15:40 RACHEL COYLE then reveals the inside story of the HUGE people's victory over Ohio's fascist Issue One, meant to erase the public right to democratically amend the Buckeye constitution with a simple majority….enshrined in Ohio law since 1912. @44:45 WENDI LEDERMAN describes Florida's strongman/torturer Ron DeSantis's purges of duly elected public officials, making Florida the place where democracy and freedom go to die. The great eco-activist RUSSELL GREENE invites us to his September 17 mega-march in New York aiming to end fossil/nuke climate destruction. PETER FIEKOWSKY explains his mega-engineering approach to decarbonizing the atmosphere. We explore the critical dynamics surrounding the defining battle at the DIABLO CANYON NUKE, joined by MIMI SPREADBURY, TATANKA BRICCA & MYLA RESON. Russell explains what's happening at the climate emergency summit while DOROTHY REIK invites us to her September 9 fundraiser in Topanga for Steve Danziger. RON LEONARD dissects California's escalating war against solar while we celebrate a front-piece piece from the NYTIMES finally citing Solartopian inevitability. We hear also of major advances in solar panels and moving lithium-based batteries to sodium, a MUCH cheaper route to the Solartopia future. Wendi reminds us of MAYA ROSSUM's superb GREEN AMENDMENTS book. And we thank the great JOEL SEGAL for authoring landmark legislation for 100% green energy. NO NUKES! everybody….see you in Solartopia….

The founder of the national Green Amendments movement, Maya van Rossum, returns to discuss Held vs. Montana, a lawsuit brought by 16 teenagers demanding the enforcement by state agencies of regulations that ensure their right to a clean and healthy environment. Montana is one of three states that have a Green Amendment in its state constitution. She was in the courtroom during the testimonial phase of the case. Maya recently wrote: "The Held v. State of Montana litigation is the first time the right to a safe climate is getting a full and fair hearing in the courts with a state Green Amendment as a key foundation."Maya also recently contributed an article on Earth911, Industry & Big Greens Stomp on Frontline Communities & Environmental Justice... Yet Again. She pointed out a questionable alliance between national environmental groups and renewable energy companies fighting the addition of a Green Amendment to the New Mexico State constitution. In addition to Montana, Pennsylvania and New York have adopted Green Amendments. There is little or no evidence those constitutional changes have slowed the development of green energy services in those states. Despite the apparent agreement that we need a healthy environment, the clean energy industry and several prominent environmental advocacy groups, including Sierra Club Nation and Union of Concerned Scientists, have joined the Interwest Energy Alliance (IEA), a lobbying group opposing the Green Amendment in New Mexico. You can learn more about Maya and the Green Amendments movement at https://forthegenerations.org/

A discussion with Kim Stoner and Maya van Rossum, leaders, respectively, in CT and nationally to get state legislatures to pass so-called Green Amendments, which guarantee residents the right to clean air, clean water, clean soil and climate protection. Kim is a leader of the CT Climate Crisis Mobilization and is director of advocacy for the CT Chapter of NOFA, the Northeast Organic Farming Association, working on the CT Environmental Rights Amendment. Maya is founder of For the Generations, a clearinghouse for the many state efforts, and author of the book, "The Green Amendment: Securing Our Right to a Healthy Environment."

In this episode, we talk to Maya van Rossum. She is the founder of Green Amendments For the Generations, a grassroots non-profit organization dedicated to securing constitutional recognition and protection of environmental rights. She has been a passionate advocate for the health of the Delaware River and its tributaries for over 30 years as the Delaware Riverkeeper. She was a lead petitioner in the landmark Robinson Township case and has testified multiple times before US Congressional Committees. She is also the author of The Green Amendment, Securing Our Right to a Healthy Environment, which won the 2018 Living Now Evergreen Awards GOLD in the Nature Conservation category.During this episode we looked at what green amendments are and how we can secure our right to an environmental future and what it takes to be the voice of a river. Links from the episodes:Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding SweetgrassSharma vs Minister for Environment case in Australia. The Green Amendment bookSilent Spring by Rachel CarsonWhere can people find Maya?FacebookInstagramLinkedInTwitterWebsiteKEY TAKE AWAY“The laws, fundamentally fail us.”

Some context leading to my conversation with Maya:When I first thought of a constitutional amendment to protect us from pollution, I thought the idea was crazy, but I couldn't stop thinking about it. The more I did, the more it made sense.Since learning about the Thirteenth Amendment prompted me to think of it, I first spoke to previous guest James Oakes about it. Since it involved constitutional law, I spoke to previous guest (and Nobel Prize holder) Seth Shelden, who put me in touch with his constitutional law professor and previous guest Michael Herz. Besides my conversations with them one-on-one, I also spoke with Michael and Jim together. I recommend listening and watching those conversations for context.My conversation with Maya:Then I learned of Maya's work with "green amendments," as she calls them, at the state level as a foundation for the federal level. She has been working on it for years. She shares that history, including a major win in Pennsylvania and New York State's recently becoming the third state with a green amendment.She describes the value of an amendment over statutory law, how current legislation doesn't prohibit pollution it legalizes it, the state of the movement, and goals.If you, as I did, considered environmental amendments interesting but far-fetched, you'll love this episode. Maya is achieving the seemingly impossible and showing it's beyond possible. It's happening.She is the Delaware Riverkeeper, leading the watershed based advocacy organization, the Delaware Riverkeeper NetworkGreen Amendments for the GenerationsHer book: The Green Amendment: the People's Fight for a Clean, Safe, and Healthy Environment Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Maya K. van Rossum discusses Green Amendments for the Generations, the movement she founded to bring an amendment to every state constitution guaranteeing residents' basic human right to clean air and water, and a healthy environment

Several states have recently enacted—or are considering enacting—constitutional amendments that protect our right to live in a healthy environment. Such policies ensure that in every action the government takes, the protection of our world is prioritized. Yet, in conversations about our fundamental rights, such as freedom of speech and religion, the right to a stable climate and access to clean water and air are often overlooked. Veteran environmentalist Maya K. van Rossum proposes raising environmental rights to the highest constitutional standing is critical to ensuring essential climate justice. She is the founder of Green Amendments for The Generations, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring the passage of environmental legislation in every state constitution across our nation and at the federal level when the time is right. Green Amendments–a term coined and defined by Maya in her 2017 award-winning book–recognize and protect environmental rights on par with other inalienable civic and political freedoms. She has also served as the leader of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network for over 30 years, a regional advocacy organization that works throughout the four states of the Delaware River watershed and at the national level using advocacy, science, and litigation to protect the Delaware River and its tributaries. In this episode, Maya and I discuss the specific language written into Green Amendments that make them so powerful, and what an environmental right at the federal level might look like for the U.S. Resources mentioned in today's episode:https://forthegenerations.org/ https://www.delawareriverkeeper.org/ The Green Amendment: Securing Our Right to A Healthy Environmenthttps://www.amazon.com/Green-Amendment-Securing-Healthy-Environment/dp/1633310213 Connect with Maya van Rossum:https://www.linkedin.com/in/maya-van-rossum-21803114/ https://twitter.com/MayaKvanRossum Visit Coolperx® home page: www.coolperx.comReach out to Coolperx®:Phone: +1 (855) 429-0455Email: hello@coolperx.com Support Coolperx®'s podcast by subscribing and reviewing!Music is considered “royalty-free” and discovered on Audio Blocks. Technical Podcast Support by: Jon Keur at Wayfare Recording Co. © 2022 Coolperx®. All Rights Reserved.

Panhandling in the public right of way could soon be illegal in Jacksonville; the effort to get states to pass green amendments; the push to reform Florida's mental health care system; and “little free diverse libraries.”

Today we get to have a personal chat! Our caller today asks "What is your least favorite form of pollution?" Ultimately, all pollution is not cute OR my favorite. But which one keeps me up at night?I'll discuss my personal experience with air pollution, how my health was affected by it, and my experience navigating American healthcare to improve breathing during a summer of poor air quality. But the pollution that keeps me up at night? Water pollution is insidious. Contaminants are not always visible to the naked eye. I've researched hexavalent chromium levels in drinking water in New York State and have some not-so-great news to share regarding pollution and contamination you might not even know about that might affect you. But I also have some solutions to share, as well.Groups like the Environmental Working Group and Green Amendments for the Generations (whose founder you will get to meet very soon in another episode!) are working to keep us informed, provide strong environmental protections, and improve our quality of life and the quality of the environment.You can support the show by following it on all social media platforms and wherever you stream your podcasts. Another great way to support the show is to leave reviews and rate the show! It helps people discover our little corner of the internet because of algorithms and internet stuff. Don't forget, your support helps in our reforestation project to reforest Appalachia and other national parks that have experienced deforestation as well as other areas around the world! Listening to the show, calling in, and picking up some swag from my SciStore.Instagram: @ryantistthescientistPatreon: Ryantist the ScientistLinkedIn: Ryantist the ScientistFollow on ApplePodcastFollow on StitcherFollow on SpotifyAnd also, visit the website!

Since we launched our Environmental Voices podcast in early 2022 we've produced 6 podcasts featuring interviews with 22 different people fighting to protect the environment in Pennsylvania and beyond. We've heard from artists and activists, authors and attorneys. We've been able to interview some pretty well-known voices including climate scientist Michael Mann, Secretary of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Cindy Dunn, and acclaimed activist Bill McKibben, and we've brought some new voices to you that you may not have heard from otherwise.  For our last podcast of 2022, we bring you two influential voices, each a leader in advocating for environmental protections in the Commonwealth: PennFuture's new CEO & President, Patrick McDonnell and author, activist, and Delaware River Keeper Maya van Rossum who will talk about her new book, The Green Amendment.  Maya van Rossum has served as the Delaware Riverkeeper and leader for the Delaware Riverkeeper Network since 1994. She was one of the original petitioners in the landmark Robinson Township v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania case decided by the PA Supreme Court in 2013 which strengthened environmental standing opportunities, declared unconstitutional key sections of the pro-drilling Act 13 legislation, and reinvigorated the strength of Pennsylvania Constitution's Environmental Rights Amendment. Since then she has created the Green Amendments for the Generations organization. Most recently, Disruption Books has published the second edition of her book The Green Amendment – the people's fight for a clean, safe, and healthy environment. Patrick McDonnell, the new CEO & President of PennFuture. Based in Harrisburg, Patrick brings over 20 years of experience on climate, clean energy and environmental issues to PennFuture. Prior to joining the nonprofit, he spent six years as Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, leading key initiatives like passage of the state's first carbon trading regulation, acceleration of the Commonwealth's cleanup of waterways and a new focus on environmental justice issues. He also served as President of the Environmental Council of the States, the voice of state environmental agencies nationally. For more information about PennFuture, visit pennfuture.org

As the climate crisis and toxic pollution worsen, environmentalists are using new strategies to challenge the power of the fossil fuel, petro-chemical and other polluting industries. The "Green Amendments" movement would put environmental protection in state and federal, constitutions and make it an unquestionable right. It already exists in three states (Montana, Pennsylvania and New York) and they are working to add it to more state constitutions. In our latest, we talk with Green Amendments founder and Delaware Riverkeeper Maya van Rossum (@MayaKvanRossum) about Green Amendments. Bio// Maya K. van Rossum is the founder of Green Amendments For The Generations, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring passage of Green Amendments in every state constitution across our nation, and also at the federal level when the time is right. She is an environmental attorney, community organizer, and the Delaware Riverkeeper, leading the regional advocacy organization, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, for over 30 years. . She is author of "The Green Amendment: The People's Fight for a Clean, Safe, and Healthy Environment." -------------------------- Outro// "Be the Rain" by Jean-Luc Le Tenia Links// Green Amendments for the Generations (https://forthegenerations.org/) Green Amendments Will Empower Environmental Protection (https://bit.ly/3Ht9m3B) Delaware Riverkeeper Network (https://www.delawareriverkeeper.org/) Follow Green and Red// G&R Linktree: https://linktr.ee/greenandredpodcast https://greenandredpodcast.org/ Support the Green and Red Podcast// Become a Patron at https://www.patreon.com/greenredpodcast Or make a one time donation here: https://bit.ly/DonateGandR **Our friends with Certain Days now have their 2023 calendar available and we bought ten copies. With a $25 (or more) donation to Green and Red, we'll mail you one! Just contact us at greenredpodcast@gmail.com This is a Green and Red Podcast (@PodcastGreenRed) production. Produced by Bob (@bobbuzzanco) and Scott (@sparki1969). “Green and Red Blues" by Moody. Editing by Scott.

Is there a simple solution to ensure we have the right to a healthy environment? Tune in Friday, December 9th at 10:30am PST/ 1:30pm EST for an inspiring discussion with Maya van Rossum on her new #book The Green Amendment: The People's Fight For a Clean, Safe & Healthy Environment.#MomentsWithMarianne with host Marianne Pestana airs every Tuesday at 3PM PST / 6PM EST and every Friday at 10AM PST/ 1PM EST in the Southern California area on KMET1490AM & 98.1 FM, ABC Talk News Radio affiliate! Not in the area? Click here to listen! https://tunein.com/radio/KMET-1490-s33999/ Maya van Rossum is a veteran environmentalist on a mission to use our state and federal constitutions to empower activists and provide hope to communities everywhere seeking to address environmental racism, the climate crisis, and the ongoing ravages of polluted water and air, toxic contamination, and withering ecosystems nationwide. She is the founder of Green Amendement For The Generations, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring passage of Green Amendments in every state across the United States that would recognize and protect environmental rights on par with other inalienable civic and political freedoms such as speech and property. https://forthegenerations.org For more show information visit:www.MariannePestana.com#bookclub #readinglist #books #bookish #healing #MariannePestana #author #authorinterview #nonfiction #kmet1490am #consciousness #selfhelp #environment #enviornmentalist #bethechange #thegreenamendment

(Airdate 12/5/22) Maya K. van Rossum is the Founder of Green Amendments For the Generations, a non-profit organization inspiring a nationwide movement to secure constitutional recognition and protection of environmental rights in every state and ultimately at the federal level. van Rossum is also the Delaware Riverkeeper, leading the watershed based organization, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, for over 30 years in its efforts to protect the health of the Delaware River. She is author of, The Green Amendment: The People's Fight for a Clean, Safe, and Healthy Environment. www.forthegenerations.org

In this episode of The ESG Experience, Helee Lev and Ryan Nelson are joined by Maya van Rossum, Founder of Green Amendments for the Generations, to discuss green amendments. They examine what green amendments are, how they work, and the effectiveness, value, and long-term positive impact they provide.

Featuring conversations with California Sen. Scott Wiener and Maya van Rossum, a veteran environmentalist and the founder of Green Amendments for the Generations.

Maya van Rossum is the Founder of Green Amendments For The Generations and a veteran environmentalist.

“What is a Green Amendment? It is language that recognizes the rights of all people to clean water and clean air, a stable climate, and healthy environments, and obligates the government to protect those rights and the natural resources of the state for the benefit of all the people in the state, or if it was a federal green amendment in the United States, and they become obliged to protect those environmental rights and those natural resources for the benefit of both present and future generations, that's functionally what it does. But to help people understand what it accomplishes, a green amendment actually obligates the government to recognize and protect our environmental rights in the same, most powerful way we recognize and protect the other fundamental freedoms we hold dear. Things like the right to free speech, freedom of religion, civil rights, and private property rights. We all know how powerfully they are protected from government overreach and infringement. Well, when we have Green Amendments, now the environment and our environmental rights are added to that list of highest constitutional freedoms and protections."Maya K. van Rossum is the founder of Green Amendments For The Generations, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring passage of Green Amendments in every state constitution across our nation, and also at the federal level when the time is right. She is an environmental attorney, community organizer, and the Delaware Riverkeeper, leading the regional advocacy organization, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, for over 30 years. The Delaware Riverkeeper Network works throughout the four states of the Delaware River watershed (NY, NJ, PA & DE) and at the national level using advocacy, science and litigation to protect the Delaware River and its tributaries. She is the Author of The Green Amendment: The People's Fight for a Clean, Safe, and Healthy Environment.www.ForTheGenerations.orgwww.delawareriverkeeper.orghttps://forthegenerations.org/the-green-amendment/https://twitter.com/MayaKvanRossumwww.creativeprocess.infowww.oneplanetpodcast.org

Maya K. van Rossum is the founder of Green Amendments For The Generations, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring passage of Green Amendments in every state constitution across our nation, and also at the federal level when the time is right. She is an environmental attorney, community organizer, and the Delaware Riverkeeper, leading the regional advocacy organization, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, for over 30 years. The Delaware Riverkeeper Network works throughout the four states of the Delaware River watershed (NY, NJ, PA & DE) and at the national level using advocacy, science and litigation to protect the Delaware River and its tributaries. She is the Author of The Green Amendment: The People's Fight for a Clean, Safe, and Healthy Environment.“What is a Green Amendment? It is language that recognizes the rights of all people to clean water and clean air, a stable climate, and healthy environments, and obligates the government to protect those rights and the natural resources of the state for the benefit of all the people in the state, or if it was a federal green amendment in the United States, and they become obliged to protect those environmental rights and those natural resources for the benefit of both present and future generations, that's functionally what it does. But to help people understand what it accomplishes, a green amendment actually obligates the government to recognize and protect our environmental rights in the same, most powerful way we recognize and protect the other fundamental freedoms we hold dear. Things like the right to free speech, freedom of religion, civil rights, and private property rights. We all know how powerfully they are protected from government overreach and infringement. Well, when we have Green Amendments, now the environment and our environmental rights are added to that list of highest constitutional freedoms and protections."www.ForTheGenerations.orgwww.delawareriverkeeper.orghttps://forthegenerations.org/the-green-amendment/https://twitter.com/MayaKvanRossumwww.creativeprocess.infowww.oneplanetpodcast.org

“What is a Green Amendment? It is language that recognizes the rights of all people to clean water and clean air, a stable climate, and healthy environments, and obligates the government to protect those rights and the natural resources of the state for the benefit of all the people in the state, or if it was a federal green amendment in the United States, and they become obliged to protect those environmental rights and those natural resources for the benefit of both present and future generations, that's functionally what it does. But to help people understand what it accomplishes, a green amendment actually obligates the government to recognize and protect our environmental rights in the same, most powerful way we recognize and protect the other fundamental freedoms we hold dear. Things like the right to free speech, freedom of religion, civil rights, and private property rights. We all know how powerfully they are protected from government overreach and infringement. Well, when we have Green Amendments, now the environment and our environmental rights are added to that list of highest constitutional freedoms and protections."Maya K. van Rossum is the founder of Green Amendments For The Generations, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring passage of Green Amendments in every state constitution across our nation, and also at the federal level when the time is right. She is an environmental attorney, community organizer, and the Delaware Riverkeeper, leading the regional advocacy organization, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, for over 30 years. The Delaware Riverkeeper Network works throughout the four states of the Delaware River watershed (NY, NJ, PA & DE) and at the national level using advocacy, science and litigation to protect the Delaware River and its tributaries. She is the Author of The Green Amendment: The People's Fight for a Clean, Safe, and Healthy Environment.www.ForTheGenerations.orgwww.delawareriverkeeper.orghttps://forthegenerations.org/the-green-amendment/https://twitter.com/MayaKvanRossumwww.creativeprocess.infowww.oneplanetpodcast.org

Maya K. van Rossum is the founder of Green Amendments For The Generations, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring passage of Green Amendments in every state constitution across our nation, and also at the federal level when the time is right. She is an environmental attorney, community organizer, and the Delaware Riverkeeper, leading the regional advocacy organization, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, for over 30 years. The Delaware Riverkeeper Network works throughout the four states of the Delaware River watershed (NY, NJ, PA & DE) and at the national level using advocacy, science and litigation to protect the Delaware River and its tributaries. She is the Author of The Green Amendment: The People's Fight for a Clean, Safe, and Healthy Environment."It's very, very important that people are fully informed about what is the current situation when it comes to the environment and environmental impacts within their community. And what does the science say about a proposal that's coming down the pike? It's also very important that they understand the laws that are implicated? What are the agencies that have a role in deciding whether or not they will be exposed to whatever the proposal is that's coming down the pike?But I think also something that's very important, whether people have a Green Amendment or not, is really for them to take into their hearts and their minds this understanding and belief that the right to a clean, safe, and healthy environment is truly an inalienable right that belongs to all people by virtue of the fact that we are here on this Earth.It's not something that government has given to us. Government doesn't give us the right to clean water and clean air. We're born with that. The question is what do we do to protect those environmental rights from harm by industry, by developers, and by unscrupulous lawmakers? One of the things that we do is we try to pass and enforce good laws. The problem is the way all the laws are written nationwide is they really, at the state level and on the federal level, they really start from a place that pollution and degradation is acceptable. And so we need to just manage it, and they manage it by issuing permits that very literally legalize the environmental harm that's about to happen."www.ForTheGenerations.orgwww.delawareriverkeeper.orghttps://forthegenerations.org/the-green-amendment/https://twitter.com/MayaKvanRossumwww.creativeprocess.infowww.oneplanetpodcast.org

Maya K. van Rossum is the founder of Green Amendments For The Generations, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring passage of Green Amendments in every state constitution across our nation, and also at the federal level when the time is right. She is an environmental attorney, community organizer, and the Delaware Riverkeeper, leading the regional advocacy organization, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, for over 30 years. The Delaware Riverkeeper Network works throughout the four states of the Delaware River watershed (NY, NJ, PA & DE) and at the national level using advocacy, science and litigation to protect the Delaware River and its tributaries. She is the Author of The Green Amendment: The People's Fight for a Clean, Safe, and Healthy Environment.“What is a Green Amendment? It is language that recognizes the rights of all people to clean water and clean air, a stable climate, and healthy environments, and obligates the government to protect those rights and the natural resources of the state for the benefit of all the people in the state, or if it was a federal green amendment in the United States, and they become obliged to protect those environmental rights and those natural resources for the benefit of both present and future generations, that's functionally what it does. But to help people understand what it accomplishes, a green amendment actually obligates the government to recognize and protect our environmental rights in the same, most powerful way we recognize and protect the other fundamental freedoms we hold dear. Things like the right to free speech, freedom of religion, civil rights, and private property rights. We all know how powerfully they are protected from government overreach and infringement. Well, when we have Green Amendments, now the environment and our environmental rights are added to that list of highest constitutional freedoms and protections."www.ForTheGenerations.orgwww.delawareriverkeeper.orghttps://forthegenerations.org/the-green-amendment/https://twitter.com/MayaKvanRossumwww.creativeprocess.infowww.oneplanetpodcast.org

“What is a Green Amendment? It is language that recognizes the rights of all people to clean water and clean air, a stable climate, and healthy environments, and obligates the government to protect those rights and the natural resources of the state for the benefit of all the people in the state, or if it was a federal green amendment in the United States, and they become obliged to protect those environmental rights and those natural resources for the benefit of both present and future generations, that's functionally what it does. But to help people understand what it accomplishes, a green amendment actually obligates the government to recognize and protect our environmental rights in the same, most powerful way we recognize and protect the other fundamental freedoms we hold dear. Things like the right to free speech, freedom of religion, civil rights, and private property rights. We all know how powerfully they are protected from government overreach and infringement. Well, when we have Green Amendments, now the environment and our environmental rights are added to that list of highest constitutional freedoms and protections."Maya K. van Rossum is the founder of Green Amendments For The Generations, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring passage of Green Amendments in every state constitution across our nation, and also at the federal level when the time is right. She is an environmental attorney, community organizer, and the Delaware Riverkeeper, leading the regional advocacy organization, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, for over 30 years. The Delaware Riverkeeper Network works throughout the four states of the Delaware River watershed (NY, NJ, PA & DE) and at the national level using advocacy, science and litigation to protect the Delaware River and its tributaries. She is the Author of The Green Amendment: The People's Fight for a Clean, Safe, and Healthy Environment.www.ForTheGenerations.orgwww.delawareriverkeeper.orghttps://forthegenerations.org/the-green-amendment/https://twitter.com/MayaKvanRossumwww.creativeprocess.infowww.oneplanetpodcast.org

Maya K. van Rossum is the founder of Green Amendments For The Generations, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring passage of Green Amendments in every state constitution across our nation, and also at the federal level when the time is right. She is an environmental attorney, community organizer, and the Delaware Riverkeeper, leading the regional advocacy organization, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, for over 30 years. The Delaware Riverkeeper Network works throughout the four states of the Delaware River watershed (NY, NJ, PA & DE) and at the national level using advocacy, science and litigation to protect the Delaware River and its tributaries. She is the Author of The Green Amendment: The People's Fight for a Clean, Safe, and Healthy Environment."I am hopeful because I see so many people who care and who care deeply and who are really embracing this Green Amendment movement. It's amazing how powerfully it resonates with people because, while they can't get their heads around what does the Clean Water Act say? Or the Clean Air Act say? Or this law or that law, they can get their heads around I have a right to clean water and clean air, and I'm going to advocate for it. And so that's a beautiful, powerful thing. And it's really so empowering to see how people advocate for the environment in general, but also advocate for this Green Amendment movement because the message is so accessible. I also just had this real belief, if I can't be positive and hopeful, what's my option? To become depressed and sit down and shut up? Well, if I sit down and shut up, that's one less voice for the earth. That's one less voice for nature.That's one less voice for victimized people who are being sacrificed to industry. So I don't really feel like I have the luxury of wallowing in defeat or despair and sitting down and shutting up. I feel that I have a duty and an obligation to speak for the Earth. And while fundamentally the Green Amendment movement and constitutional Green Amendments are about the Rights of the People, I believe that by framing our Green Amendments in the way traditional constitutional rights are framed where it is the right of the people, we give so much power to nature because we really are giving the people the power they need to protect our natural resources, to speak in defense of our critters and our wild places and our wild spaces and for future generations to rise up in the most powerful way for our climate. I believe 100% in the Rights of Nature."www.ForTheGenerations.orgwww.delawareriverkeeper.orghttps://forthegenerations.org/the-green-amendment/https://twitter.com/MayaKvanRossumwww.creativeprocess.infowww.oneplanetpodcast.org

"I am hopeful because I see so many people who care and who care deeply and who are really embracing this Green Amendment movement. It's amazing how powerfully it resonates with people because, while they can't get their heads around what does the Clean Water Act say? Or the Clean Air Act say? Or this law or that law, they can get their heads around I have a right to clean water and clean air, and I'm going to advocate for it. And so that's a beautiful, powerful thing. And it's really so empowering to see how people advocate for the environment in general, but also advocate for this Green Amendment movement because the message is so accessible. I also just had this real belief, if I can't be positive and hopeful, what's my option? To become depressed and sit down and shut up? Well, if I sit down and shut up, that's one less voice for the earth. That's one less voice for nature.That's one less voice for victimized people who are being sacrificed to industry. So I don't really feel like I have the luxury of wallowing in defeat or despair and sitting down and shutting up. I feel that I have a duty and an obligation to speak for the Earth. And while fundamentally the Green Amendment movement and constitutional Green Amendments are about the Rights of the People, I believe that by framing our Green Amendments in the way traditional constitutional rights are framed where it is the right of the people, we give so much power to nature because we really are giving the people the power they need to protect our natural resources, to speak in defense of our critters and our wild places and our wild spaces and for future generations to rise up in the most powerful way for our climate. I believe 100% in the Rights of Nature."Maya K. van Rossum is the founder of Green Amendments For The Generations, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring passage of Green Amendments in every state constitution across our nation, and also at the federal level when the time is right. She is an environmental attorney, community organizer, and the Delaware Riverkeeper, leading the regional advocacy organization, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, for over 30 years. The Delaware Riverkeeper Network works throughout the four states of the Delaware River watershed (NY, NJ, PA & DE) and at the national level using advocacy, science and litigation to protect the Delaware River and its tributaries. She is the Author of The Green Amendment: The People's Fight for a Clean, Safe, and Healthy Environment.www.ForTheGenerations.orgwww.delawareriverkeeper.orghttps://forthegenerations.org/the-green-amendment/https://twitter.com/MayaKvanRossumwww.creativeprocess.infowww.oneplanetpodcast.org

“What is a Green Amendment? It is language that recognizes the rights of all people to clean water and clean air, a stable climate, and healthy environments, and obligates the government to protect those rights and the natural resources of the state for the benefit of all the people in the state, or if it was a federal green amendment in the United States, and they become obliged to protect those environmental rights and those natural resources for the benefit of both present and future generations, that's functionally what it does. But to help people understand what it accomplishes, a green amendment actually obligates the government to recognize and protect our environmental rights in the same, most powerful way we recognize and protect the other fundamental freedoms we hold dear. Things like the right to free speech, freedom of religion, civil rights, and private property rights. We all know how powerfully they are protected from government overreach and infringement. Well, when we have Green Amendments, now the environment and our environmental rights are added to that list of highest constitutional freedoms and protections."Maya K. van Rossum is the founder of Green Amendments For The Generations, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring passage of Green Amendments in every state constitution across our nation, and also at the federal level when the time is right. She is an environmental attorney, community organizer, and the Delaware Riverkeeper, leading the regional advocacy organization, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, for over 30 years. The Delaware Riverkeeper Network works throughout the four states of the Delaware River watershed (NY, NJ, PA & DE) and at the national level using advocacy, science and litigation to protect the Delaware River and its tributaries. She is the Author of The Green Amendment: The People's Fight for a Clean, Safe, and Healthy Environment.www.ForTheGenerations.orgwww.delawareriverkeeper.orghttps://forthegenerations.org/the-green-amendment/https://twitter.com/MayaKvanRossumwww.creativeprocess.infowww.oneplanetpodcast.org

Maya K. van Rossum is the founder of Green Amendments For The Generations, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring passage of Green Amendments in every state constitution across our nation, and also at the federal level when the time is right. She is an environmental attorney, community organizer, and the Delaware Riverkeeper, leading the regional advocacy organization, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, for over 30 years. The Delaware Riverkeeper Network works throughout the four states of the Delaware River watershed (NY, NJ, PA & DE) and at the national level using advocacy, science and litigation to protect the Delaware River and its tributaries. She is the Author of The Green Amendment: The People's Fight for a Clean, Safe, and Healthy Environment.“What is a Green Amendment? It is language that recognizes the rights of all people to clean water and clean air, a stable climate, and healthy environments, and obligates the government to protect those rights and the natural resources of the state for the benefit of all the people in the state, or if it was a federal green amendment in the United States, and they become obliged to protect those environmental rights and those natural resources for the benefit of both present and future generations, that's functionally what it does. But to help people understand what it accomplishes, a green amendment actually obligates the government to recognize and protect our environmental rights in the same, most powerful way we recognize and protect the other fundamental freedoms we hold dear. Things like the right to free speech, freedom of religion, civil rights, and private property rights. We all know how powerfully they are protected from government overreach and infringement. Well, when we have Green Amendments, now the environment and our environmental rights are added to that list of highest constitutional freedoms and protections."www.ForTheGenerations.orgwww.delawareriverkeeper.orghttps://forthegenerations.org/the-green-amendment/https://twitter.com/MayaKvanRossumwww.creativeprocess.infowww.oneplanetpodcast.org

Maya K. van Rossum is the founder of Green Amendments For The Generations, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring passage of Green Amendments in every state constitution across our nation, and also at the federal level when the time is right. She is an environmental attorney, community organizer, and the Delaware Riverkeeper, leading the regional advocacy organization, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, for over 30 years. The Delaware Riverkeeper Network works throughout the four states of the Delaware River watershed (NY, NJ, PA & DE) and at the national level using advocacy, science and litigation to protect the Delaware River and its tributaries. She is the Author of The Green Amendment: The People's Fight for a Clean, Safe, and Healthy Environment."So the first thing I learned is that you need to live what you believe. Whether it's environmental justice, social justice, environmental protection, do whatever you can, live your best life to try to advance that good objective goal and belief. We can all do better in our own personal lives. And that's really important. I think the other thing that I learned, my parents did it in a different way than I do it, but they did it every day - when they saw, just like when I see injustice, no matter how large or how small, they spoke up, and they did something about it. When, you know, it came to my opa, he stood up against the Nazis and did not allow them to take his sons to have to work in service to the Nazi movement.And so did my Tante Truus. My great aunt is recognized with saving on the order of 10,000 children, Jewish children, from the Nazis. With my mom, she had so many beliefs in the importance of living a good life. And so she always carried that forward. Even if it was seeing somebody behaving inappropriately in the supermarket, butting in line, or being unkind to the check register person unnecessarily, my mom was always the first to speak up and say, "Hey, don't do that!" And so I just learned from them by watching them, by being supported by them, that again, you live what you believe and when you see injustice in the world, you do what you can to address it, whether it's large or whether it's small."www.ForTheGenerations.orgwww.delawareriverkeeper.orghttps://forthegenerations.org/the-green-amendment/https://twitter.com/MayaKvanRossumwww.creativeprocess.infowww.oneplanetpodcast.org

"So the first thing I learned is that you need to live what you believe. Whether it's environmental justice, social justice, environmental protection, do whatever you can, live your best life to try to advance that good objective goal and belief. We can all do better in our own personal lives. And that's really important. I think the other thing that I learned, my parents did it in a different way than I do it, but they did it every day - when they saw, just like when I see injustice, no matter how large or how small, they spoke up, and they did something about it. When, you know, it came to my opa, he stood up against the Nazis and did not allow them to take his sons to have to work in service to the Nazi movement.And so did my Tante Truus. My great aunt is recognized with saving on the order of 10,000 children, Jewish children, from the Nazis. With my mom, she had so many beliefs in the importance of living a good life. And so she always carried that forward. Even if it was seeing somebody behaving inappropriately in the supermarket, butting in line, or being unkind to the check register person unnecessarily, my mom was always the first to speak up and say, "Hey, don't do that!" And so I just learned from them by watching them, by being supported by them, that again, you live what you believe and when you see injustice in the world, you do what you can to address it, whether it's large or whether it's small."Maya K. van Rossum is the founder of Green Amendments For The Generations, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring passage of Green Amendments in every state constitution across our nation, and also at the federal level when the time is right. She is an environmental attorney, community organizer, and the Delaware Riverkeeper, leading the regional advocacy organization, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, for over 30 years. The Delaware Riverkeeper Network works throughout the four states of the Delaware River watershed (NY, NJ, PA & DE) and at the national level using advocacy, science and litigation to protect the Delaware River and its tributaries. She is the Author of The Green Amendment: The People's Fight for a Clean, Safe, and Healthy Environment.www.ForTheGenerations.orgwww.delawareriverkeeper.orghttps://forthegenerations.org/the-green-amendment/https://twitter.com/MayaKvanRossumwww.creativeprocess.infowww.oneplanetpodcast.org

"So the first thing I learned is that you need to live what you believe. Whether it's environmental justice, social justice, environmental protection, do whatever you can, live your best life to try to advance that good objective goal and belief. We can all do better in our own personal lives. And that's really important. I think the other thing that I learned, my parents did it in a different way than I do it, but they did it every day - when they saw, just like when I see injustice, no matter how large or how small, they spoke up, and they did something about it. When, you know, it came to my opa, he stood up against the Nazis and did not allow them to take his sons to have to work in service to the Nazi movement.And so did my Tante Truus. My great aunt is recognized with saving on the order of 10,000 children, Jewish children, from the Nazis. With my mom, she had so many beliefs in the importance of living a good life. And so she always carried that forward. Even if it was seeing somebody behaving inappropriately in the supermarket, butting in line, or being unkind to the check register person unnecessarily, my mom was always the first to speak up and say, "Hey, don't do that!" And so I just learned from them by watching them, by being supported by them, that again, you live what you believe and when you see injustice in the world, you do what you can to address it, whether it's large or whether it's small."Maya K. van Rossum is the founder of Green Amendments For The Generations, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring passage of Green Amendments in every state constitution across our nation, and also at the federal level when the time is right. She is an environmental attorney, community organizer, and the Delaware Riverkeeper, leading the regional advocacy organization, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, for over 30 years. The Delaware Riverkeeper Network works throughout the four states of the Delaware River watershed (NY, NJ, PA & DE) and at the national level using advocacy, science and litigation to protect the Delaware River and its tributaries. She is the Author of The Green Amendment: The People's Fight for a Clean, Safe, and Healthy Environment.www.ForTheGenerations.orgwww.delawareriverkeeper.orghttps://forthegenerations.org/the-green-amendment/https://twitter.com/MayaKvanRossumwww.creativeprocess.infowww.oneplanetpodcast.org

Maya K. van Rossum is the founder of Green Amendments For The Generations, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring passage of Green Amendments in every state constitution across our nation, and also at the federal level when the time is right. She is an environmental attorney, community organizer, and the Delaware Riverkeeper, leading the regional advocacy organization, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, for over 30 years. The Delaware Riverkeeper Network works throughout the four states of the Delaware River watershed (NY, NJ, PA & DE) and at the national level using advocacy, science and litigation to protect the Delaware River and its tributaries. She is the Author of The Green Amendment: The People's Fight for a Clean, Safe, and Healthy Environment."So the first thing I learned is that you need to live what you believe. Whether it's environmental justice, social justice, environmental protection, do whatever you can, live your best life to try to advance that good objective goal and belief. We can all do better in our own personal lives. And that's really important. I think the other thing that I learned, my parents did it in a different way than I do it, but they did it every day - when they saw, just like when I see injustice, no matter how large or how small, they spoke up, and they did something about it. When, you know, it came to my opa, he stood up against the Nazis and did not allow them to take his sons to have to work in service to the Nazi movement.And so did my Tante Truus. My great aunt is recognized with saving on the order of 10,000 children, Jewish children, from the Nazis. With my mom, she had so many beliefs in the importance of living a good life. And so she always carried that forward. Even if it was seeing somebody behaving inappropriately in the supermarket, butting in line, or being unkind to the check register person unnecessarily, my mom was always the first to speak up and say, "Hey, don't do that!" And so I just learned from them by watching them, by being supported by them, that again, you live what you believe and when you see injustice in the world, you do what you can to address it, whether it's large or whether it's small."www.ForTheGenerations.orgwww.delawareriverkeeper.orghttps://forthegenerations.org/the-green-amendment/https://twitter.com/MayaKvanRossumwww.creativeprocess.infowww.oneplanetpodcast.org

“What is a Green Amendment? It is language that recognizes the rights of all people to clean water and clean air, a stable climate, and healthy environments, and obligates the government to protect those rights and the natural resources of the state for the benefit of all the people in the state, or if it was a federal green amendment in the United States, and they become obliged to protect those environmental rights and those natural resources for the benefit of both present and future generations, that's functionally what it does. But to help people understand what it accomplishes, a green amendment actually obligates the government to recognize and protect our environmental rights in the same, most powerful way we recognize and protect the other fundamental freedoms we hold dear. Things like the right to free speech, freedom of religion, civil rights, and private property rights. We all know how powerfully they are protected from government overreach and infringement. Well, when we have Green Amendments, now the environment and our environmental rights are added to that list of highest constitutional freedoms and protections."Maya K. van Rossum is the founder of Green Amendments For The Generations, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring passage of Green Amendments in every state constitution across our nation, and also at the federal level when the time is right. She is an environmental attorney, community organizer, and the Delaware Riverkeeper, leading the regional advocacy organization, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, for over 30 years. The Delaware Riverkeeper Network works throughout the four states of the Delaware River watershed (NY, NJ, PA & DE) and at the national level using advocacy, science and litigation to protect the Delaware River and its tributaries. She is the Author of The Green Amendment: The People's Fight for a Clean, Safe, and Healthy Environment.www.ForTheGenerations.orgwww.delawareriverkeeper.orghttps://forthegenerations.org/the-green-amendment/https://twitter.com/MayaKvanRossumwww.creativeprocess.infowww.oneplanetpodcast.org

“What is a Green Amendment? It is language that recognizes the rights of all people to clean water and clean air, a stable climate, and healthy environments, and obligates the government to protect those rights and the natural resources of the state for the benefit of all the people in the state, or if it was a federal green amendment in the United States, and they become obliged to protect those environmental rights and those natural resources for the benefit of both present and future generations, that's functionally what it does. But to help people understand what it accomplishes, a green amendment actually obligates the government to recognize and protect our environmental rights in the same, most powerful way we recognize and protect the other fundamental freedoms we hold dear. Things like the right to free speech, freedom of religion, civil rights, and private property rights. We all know how powerfully they are protected from government overreach and infringement. Well, when we have Green Amendments, now the environment and our environmental rights are added to that list of highest constitutional freedoms and protections."Maya K. van Rossum is the founder of Green Amendments For The Generations, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring passage of Green Amendments in every state constitution across our nation, and also at the federal level when the time is right. She is an environmental attorney, community organizer, and the Delaware Riverkeeper, leading the regional advocacy organization, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, for over 30 years. The Delaware Riverkeeper Network works throughout the four states of the Delaware River watershed (NY, NJ, PA & DE) and at the national level using advocacy, science and litigation to protect the Delaware River and its tributaries. She is the Author of The Green Amendment: The People's Fight for a Clean, Safe, and Healthy Environment.www.ForTheGenerations.orgwww.delawareriverkeeper.orghttps://forthegenerations.org/the-green-amendment/https://twitter.com/MayaKvanRossumwww.creativeprocess.infowww.oneplanetpodcast.org

Maya K. van Rossum is the founder of Green Amendments For The Generations, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring passage of Green Amendments in every state constitution across our nation, and also at the federal level when the time is right. She is an environmental attorney, community organizer, and the Delaware Riverkeeper, leading the regional advocacy organization, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, for over 30 years. The Delaware Riverkeeper Network works throughout the four states of the Delaware River watershed (NY, NJ, PA & DE) and at the national level using advocacy, science and litigation to protect the Delaware River and its tributaries. She is the Author of The Green Amendment: The People's Fight for a Clean, Safe, and Healthy Environment."It's very, very important that people are fully informed about what is the current situation when it comes to the environment and environmental impacts within their community. And what does the science say about a proposal that's coming down the pike? It's also very important that they understand the laws that are implicated? What are the agencies that have a role in deciding whether or not they will be exposed to whatever the proposal is that's coming down the pike?But I think also something that's very important, whether people have a Green Amendment or not, is really for them to take into their hearts and their minds this understanding and belief that the right to a clean, safe, and healthy environment is truly an inalienable right that belongs to all people by virtue of the fact that we are here on this Earth.It's not something that government has given to us. Government doesn't give us the right to clean water and clean air. We're born with that. The question is what do we do to protect those environmental rights from harm by industry, by developers, and by unscrupulous lawmakers? One of the things that we do is we try to pass and enforce good laws. The problem is the way all the laws are written nationwide is they really, at the state level and on the federal level, they really start from a place that pollution and degradation is acceptable. And so we need to just manage it, and they manage it by issuing permits that very literally legalize the environmental harm that's about to happen."www.ForTheGenerations.orgwww.delawareriverkeeper.orghttps://forthegenerations.org/the-green-amendment/https://twitter.com/MayaKvanRossumwww.creativeprocess.infowww.oneplanetpodcast.org

Are the laws of the United States fitted for sustainability? Our guest today, attorney Maya van Rossum, argues that it is time for a new approach, environmental constitutionalism. She is adjunct professor and director of the Environmental Law Clinic at Temple's Beasley School of Law and founder of Green Amendments for the Generations, a campaign to add environmental amendments to state and the U.S. constitution. Our evolving insights into the uneven health, economic, racial and social impacts of climate change demand that we rethink our approach to legislation and the Constitution. We need to enable the creation of laws and policies that will make a tangible difference for the marginalized victims of climate change and future generations, not just the voters who are alive today.The second edition of Maya's book, The Green Amendment: the People's Fight to Secure a Clean, Safe & Healthy Environment, will be published by Disruption Books in November. We've made it legal to pollute, sometimes after jumping through a few hoops, but legal to pollute almost anywhere in the United States. A green amendment isn't the silver bullet, but it can be the yeast to activate a vibrant legal and political discussion that, over time, can lead to significant changes. You can learn more about Maya and Green Amendments for the Generations at https://forthegenerations.org/ 

Systemic change is needed to fix the climate. Piecemeal regulations won't cut it.One woman who is working on fixing this is Maya van Rossum. She's the founder of For The Generations, an organisation working to get constitutions to pass a Green Amendment passed to guarantee a right to clean air, clean water, healthy environments, and a stable climate for present and future generations. She has already had success getting a Green Amendment passed in the state of New York and is currently working with 12 other states to get amendments passed there too.I invited her to come on the podcast to tell me more. We had a fantastic conversation. You can really here the passion in Maya's voice as our chat covered what a Green Amendment is, why it is needed, and how to go about getting one passed.This was a truly fascinating episode of the podcast and I learned loads as always, and I hope you do too.If you have any comments/suggestions or questions for the podcast - feel free to leave me a voice message on my SpeakPipe page, head on over to the Climate 21 Podcast Forum, or just send it to me as a direct message on Twitter/LinkedIn. Audio messages will get played (unless you specifically ask me not to).And if you want to know more about any of SAP's Sustainability solutions, head over to www.sap.com/sustainability, and if you liked this show, please don't forget to rate and/or review it. It makes a big difference to help new people discover the show. Thanks.And remember, stay healthy, stay safe, stay sane!Music credit - Intro and Outro music for this podcast was composed, played, and produced by my daughter Luna Juniper

Our Constitutions, at the state and Federal level, explicitly lay out protected, enforceable rights. You have a right to free speech, to have a gun and to practice your favorite religion. Your 5th Amendment right is currently in vogue. Why not a right to clean air and water?  We speak with the leader of an effort to put enforceable rights to a working environment into our fundamental law.  Her galaxy brain idea is a constitutionally protected individual right to a safe environment. GREEN AMENDMENTS are self-executing provisions added to the bill of rights section of a constitution that recognize and protect the rights of all people, including future generations, to pure water, clean air, a stable climate, and a healthy environment. 

Maya van Rossum is Executive Director of Delaware River Keepers whose mission is to champion the rights of our communities to the Delaware River and tributary streams that are free-flowing, clean, healthy, and abundant with a diversity of life. The Delaware is the longest undammed river east of the Mississippi, flowing freely for 330 miles as it travels from New York state, through Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware to the Atlantic Ocean. The Delaware's 13,539 square mile watershed is only about four-tenths of one percent of the continental U.S. land area, but it supplies water to five percent of the nation's population --- over 15 million people. The lower end of the River and its Estuary host the world's largest horseshoe crab population and an active commercial fishery, yet are marked by heavy industry and busy shipping traffic. The Delaware River Port Complex is the largest freshwater port in the world and is the largest for steel and paper in North America. The Port is the East Coast's largest importer of cocoa beans and fruit and as much as seventy percent of the oil shipped to the Atlantic Coast moves through the Estuary. The Delaware River is a beautiful waterway that people from all around enjoy every day. From fishing to swimming, kayaking to paddleboarding - the Delaware River provides us with dozens of recreation opportunities. The Delaware River Keepers also has an initiative called For The Generations which is a nationwide effort designed to help advance The Green Amendments which are constitutional rights to pure water, clean air and a healthy environment, understanding that only by advancing this call for protection throughout our four watershed states, across the nation and at the federal level will we be able to achieve the highest level of environmental protection we all need, deserve and are entitled to. With Maya we discuss background on the Delaware River, species in it and the significance of the River, threats that are posed against it, what actions they're taking, and her movement to pass Green Amendment laws in every state and then move to the federal level. Contact and connect with Maya: Keepermaya@delawareriverkeeper.org Delaware River Keepers: https://www.delawareriverkeeper.org/ Green Amendment Book: https://delaware-riverkeeper-network-river-shop.myshopify.com/ For The Generations: A Movement to Pass the Green Amendment: https://forthegenerations.org/

Think you have a right to a healthy environment? You don't. Green Amendments For the Generations, led by Maya van Rossum, has been working to establish rights of all people to clean water and air along with a stable climate in our state constitutions. Elevating the environment on par with free speech, bearing arms and voting has the potential to empower constitutional change, protect our welfare and prevent environmental racism. Maya is also the Delaware Riverkeeper, leading the watershed-based advocacy organization, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, for 25 years in its efforts to protect the health of the Delaware River and its tributaries. Maya was a lead petitioner in the 2013 landmark Robinson Township, Delaware Riverkeeper Network, et. al. v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania case that breathed new life into Pennsylvania's long ignored environmental rights amendment. A skilled activist, attorney, strategist and community organizer, since launching Green Amendments For The Generations, Maya has assisted constitutional amendments to be proposed in New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Vermont and West Virginia. Green Amendments for the Generations https://forthegenerations.org Get involved with Tacoma LNG Resistance: Hear about campaign updates and calls to action―to subscribe, just send an email to: standwithpuyallup-subscribe@lists.350seattle.org Ecuador is the first country to recognize Rights of Nature in its Constitution.  The country rewrote its Constitution in 2008 and it was ratified by referendum by the people. Rather than treating nature as property under the law, Rights for Nature Articles acknowledge that nature in all its life forms has the right to exist, persist, maintain and regenerate its vital cycles. Dr. David R. Boyd https://twitter.com/SREnvironment, the Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment Music on this episode was DJ Williams on YouTube Tell a few friends about the show and follow the podcast on Instagram and Twitter @treehuggerpod Review treehugger podcast on iTunes

DUDE GROWS CREW MEMBERSHIP HERE: https://www.dudegrows.com/value/ DUDE GROWS MERCH: https://www.dudegrows.com/dgc-outlet/ The Dude & Scotty Real Are Hanging Out, Wake & Baking & Answering Your Grow Talk Questions Like What To Do When You Have A Lil @#$@# Plant That You Cant Figure Out Why It Was A Runt, Helping Someone Using Gaia Green Nutrients In Coco, And How To Make Or Buy A Cheap Led Light That You Can Use For A Small Veg, How Long Into Flower Can You Use Recharge And More On Todays Episode Of Grow Talk Dont Forget To Like & Subscribe & Share The Dudegrows Show To Help Spread The Word.

DUDE GROWS CREW MEMBERSHIP HERE: https://www.dudegrows.com/value/ DUDE GROWS MERCH: https://www.dudegrows.com/dgc-outlet/ The Dude & Scotty Real Are Hanging Out, Wake & Baking & Answering Your Grow Talk Questions Like What To Do When You Have A Lil @#$@# Plant That You Cant Figure Out Why It Was A Runt, Helping Someone Using Gaia Green Nutrients In Coco, And How To Make Or Buy A Cheap Led Light That You Can Use For A Small Veg, How Long Into Flower Can You Use Recharge And More On Todays Episode Of Grow Talk Dont Forget To Like & Subscribe & Share The Dudegrows Show To Help Spread The Word.