2021-11-04 07:00:00
A polling station in New York on November 2, 2021. During the ballot, voters notably supported the right to clean air and water. SETH WENIG/AP
Carve in marble “the right of everyone to the benefit of clean air and water and a healthy environment”. The voters of New York State voted, with 60.8% of the votes, to modify their Constitution in this direction, according to results made public on Wednesday, November 3. This “green amendment” is one of only two constitutional changes, out of the five submitted to voters on Tuesday, to have been approved.
This local referendum, which received little media coverage, was coupled with the municipal elections. Barely 3 million people took part in the vote, out of 12 million registered. It is the last step in a long parliamentary process and had already been very widely endorsed in 2019 and 2021 by the House of Representatives and the State Senate, dominated by Democrats. Coincidentally, this vote took place on the third day of the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) of the United Nations on the climate, which takes place until November 12 in Glasgow (Scotland), and when the President of the United States United, Joe Biden, tries to affirm his action on climate matters.
Rights of citizens “strengthened”
New York State is one of the most populous in the United States, a contrasting territory that includes both the economic and cultural capital of the country and vast agricultural areas. It thus becomes the seventh state – out of the 50 in the country – to rewrite its Constitution to include environmental rights. A slow movement initiated in the 1970s by Illinois and Pennsylvania. Montana, Massachusetts, Hawaii and Rhode Island followed. “This amendment strengthens the rights of citizens”welcomes Peter Iwanowicz, managing director of Environmental Advocates NY.
This non-profit organization has been fighting for years to obtain this constitutional amendment, in particular since the case, in 2015, of the contaminated water of the village of Hoosick Falls, in the east of the State, rendered unfit for use. consumption because of the presence of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a toxic substance found both in the non-stick coatings of kitchen utensils and in the textile industry. “Now, if your tap water has been contaminated with chemicals, the state executive can no longer sit idly by, since the right to clean water is explicitly mentioned in the law”assure M. Ivanovich.
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An argument that opponents of this constitutional reform – both representatives of businesses and farmers – contest. Ken Pokalsky, vice president of the New York State Business Council, the largest local employers’ organization, views the amendment as ” useless “. “We already have fairly high environmental protection standards in law, both at the state and federal levels.”, he believes. This is all the more problematic, according to him, since the wording of this amendment, which is in fifteen words, is ” very vague “ and introduces a “enormous legal uncertainty”.
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