What is a Green Amendment?
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 healthy environments.
What’s Happening in Hawaii?
The Hawaii Green Amendment was re-proposed by Senator Mike Gabbard for the 2024 legislative session.
After having its first hearing, the Hawaiʻi Senate Committee on Agriculture and Environment voted unanimously on February 9, 2024 in favor of adding the proposed Environmental Rights Amendment (aka the Hawaiʻi Green Amendment SB2933) to the state constitution’s Bill of Rights. The amendment, as proposed, would create an enforceable individual right for all people of the state, including future generations to: “clean water and air, a healthful environment and climate, healthy native ecosystems, and beaches”. The amendment did not make it through the entire process and is expected to be re-proposed in 2025.
Our Grassroots Partners include: Hawaii Reef Coalition, Our Revolution Hawaii, 350 Hawaii, Hawaii Youth Coalition, Climate Protectors Coalition, Surfrider Foundation Hawai’i Region, Kahana Foundation, Environmental Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawai’i, Kauai Women’s Caucus, Kauai Climate Action Coalition, and the Center for Biological Diversity.
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Proposed Hawaii Green Amendment reads:
Article I of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:
Environmental Rights.
Section . The fundamental right of the people, including future generations, to clean water and air, a healthful environment and climate, healthy native ecosystems, and beaches, shall be protected and shall not be infringed.
Adding this language will strengthen the environmental protections already recognized in Article Article XI, Section 1 of the Hawaii Constitution that mandates the the State hold public natural resources—including land, water, air, minerals and energy sources—in trust for the benefit of all people. Adding individual rights as proposed will create an enforceable individual right that is on par with other fundamental rights and compliments and strengthens the environmental rights of the people. Court cases have given strong and protective interpretation to Hawaii’s obligations to act as trustee of the states natural resources. But the constitutional language does not provide an enforceable individual right to a healthy environment; instead Article XI Section 9 entrusts to the legislature the obligation to pass enforceable environmental laws — reaffirming the legislative approach to environmental protection.
While both of these provisions provided a strong foundation for the legal arguments put forth in the recently settled Navihine v. Dept of Transportation, State of Hawaii, and persuaded the state to agree to a strong legal settlement beneficial for ensuring better state actions regarding the climate crisis, the settlement did not cure the limitations of the current constitutional language. As a result, the Hawaii Green Amendment will continue as a strengthening addition to the current constitutional language.
Constitutionally recognized individual environmental rights are needed to ensure that government action taken, including legislation passed, always honors the rights of the people to clean water and air, a healthful environment and climate, healthy native ecosystems and beaches. The current proposed amendment will be a powerful compliment to the trustee language currently in the constitution, as well as the current environmental rights language that allows the people of Hawaii to enforce existing laws already on the books if they are violated.
