Maya K. van Rossum
Maya K. van Rossum is the Founder of Green Amendments For the Generations, a grassroots 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 advocacy organization, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, for over 30 years in its efforts to protect the health of the Delaware River and its tributaries.
A skilled activist, attorney, strategist and community organizer, she was named in 2020 as a River Hero by River Network, in 2019 as one of Philadelphia Business Journal’s Power 100, and One Of The “10 Most Influential People of 2015” When It Comes to Energy Issues by SNL Energy. Her writing has been featured in such publications as BloombergLaw, Law360, the Boston Globe, and TIME Magazine. She is author of, The Green Amendment: the People’s Fight for a Clean, Safe, and Healthy Environment. Since launching Green Amendments For The Generations, constitutional amendments have been proposed in nearly a dozen states, with New York formally passing a Green Amendment in 2021.
720: Maya Van Rossum, part 2: You Don’t Have a Right to a Clean Environment. You Have to Work for It.
Do you think government should protect people’s life, liberty, and property? What if it turned out it didn’t, if it said other people could destroy your life, liberty, and property, and would help them do it?
That’s what pollution does. A lack of a clean environment means that someone polluted it and hurt you, your children, your loved ones. You don’t have a right to a clean environment if you are an American, or likely anyone. Instead, others have the right to destroy your life, liberty, and property.
Three states have amendments where you can sue for it, but it’s hard and the nation doesn’t overall.
What would you do if you lost your right to free speech? Would you not work like hell to restore it? Wouldn’t you recognize that others would figure out ways to profit from limiting your speech, maybe charging you for it, as a bottled water company would charge your for water? You’d act fast to prevent them from eroding your lost rights more and holding them from you.
Maya is doing that work for your potential right to a clean environment. We start with this perspective, then consider how serious it is, what you can do about it, and how important it is.
In short, you would much prefer life with the right to a clean environment at the constitutional level, as much as you want all the rights in the Bill of Rights.
688: Maya K. van Rossum, part 1: Green Amendments for the Environment (State and Federal)
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.