Sign this Petition to Support Environmental Human Rights

Our state constitution is our contract between the people of Maryland and the government that represents them. Including the fundamental right to a healthful and stable environment in the state constitution changes expectations of both citizens and government about what our collective priorities and mutual responsibilities are.  

The Maryland Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) recognizes "each person's fundamental and inalienable right to a healthful environment" but the policy lacks teeth and is largely dormant.

Legislators depend on their constituents to guide their priorities, so we need your signature on this petition to demonstrate that Marylanders across the state want each person's right to a healthful and stable environment to be protected on par with other civil rights.

Below are the main reasons why the right to a healthful environment  needs to be protected in our state constitution.

1. It is a moral imperative to protect the basic human dignity of having a healthful environment

2. The health of the people of Maryland is negatively impacted by environmental pollution and degradation. The health disparities are more egregious in communities of color and low-income neighborhoods where environmental pollution and degradation is concentrated.

3. An Environmental Human Rights amendment would empower all Marylanders, local governments, and the state to protect and defend this fundamental right.

4. A constitutional right would be the foundation for improved laws and regulations, and act as a true guardrail to prevent the most egregious forms of harmful actions now and for future generations, providing environmental justice in our state.

5. A constitutional right, as opposed to a regular law, would ensure that environmental protection is considered among the highest obligations of the government, pursued as “a matter of the highest public priority,” (per MEPA) and not merely “good public policy”.

Join us in supporting the Environmental Human Rights Amendment. Read the petition below and add your name! It will take the will of the people to make this a priority in the next General Assembly. Current and future generations are counting on you to sign this petition and make the right to a healthful and stable environment a priority for Maryland.