Working to secure our constitutional rights to a healthy environment -Maya van Rossum
About Maya van Rossum
Maya van Rossum is the Delaware Riverkeeper, founder of Green Amendments for the Generations, author of The Green Amendment: The People's Fight to Secure a Clean, Safe, and Healthy Environment and a lawyer. She has devoted her energies to securing that every state has a Green Amendment. This amendment assures our rights to a healthy environment by enshrining them in a state's constitution. Maya discusses her work and how we can help.
Litigating for Earth - A constitutional right for a healthy environment
Maya has been the Delaware Riverkeeper for three decades. She is also the founder of Green Amendments for the Generationsand the author of The Green Amendment: The People's Fight to Secure a Clean, Safe, and Healthy Environment. She talks about discovering environmental law in college and her discovery that the Pennsylvania constitution included a provision, a Green Amendment, to assure protection for a healthy environment because in most states pollution is legal. Maya has been working to see that other states enact a similar provision in their state constitutions. She discusses her work as a Riverkeeper and with the Green Amendments for Generations and ways everyone can make a difference in protecting Mother Earth.
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00:00:02 Pam Ferris-Olson Today on the Wo(men) Mind the Water Artivist Series podcast on womenmindthewater.com, I'm speaking with Maya van Rossum, the Delaware Riverkeeper and founder of Green Amendments for the Generations. She's a licensed attorney in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and the District of Columbia. Maya is a strong advocate for access to clean water and clean air, in other words, a healthy environment.
00:00:29 Pam Ferris-Olson Wo(men) Mind the Water Artivist series on womenmindthewater.com engages artists in conversation about their work and explores their connection with the water. Through their stories, Wo(men) Mind the Water hopes to inspire and encourage action to protect water and all the creatures that depend on it.
00:00:49 Pam Ferris-Olson I'm talking with Maya van Rossum, who believes in the power of the Constitution and that the Constitution affords us protection for our health and the health of our children and their children. Maya is a lawyer and the author of The Green Amendment: The People's Fight to Secure a Clean, Safe, and Healthy Environment. Maya has served for more than 30 years as the Delaware Riverkeeper, a watershed-based advocacy organization.
With Maya, we are going to explore environmental rights afforded by the Constitution and how we can successfully achieve this, especially given the current political and economic climate.
00:01:32 Pam Ferris-Olson Welcome, Maya. Let's explore your conviction that all Americans are guaranteed the right to a clean environment and your years of dedicated work advocating for this. Maya, let's begin by learning where you grew up and what got you thinking about water and specifically about clean water.
00:01:51 Maya van Rossum Well first, I really want to thank you for including me on your podcast and in your series. You just do such important work spreading the good word, and it's an honor to join you. So I actually came to the United States of America when I was about a year and a half old from India and had a wonderful upbringing in the state of Pennsylvania. I had wonderful parents who were not environmental activists or advocates themselves, but they believed in living what you believe. And so they lived a life that was respectful of nature and the people and really living their belief that we all should experience true justice.
00:02:36 Maya van Rossum And I spent a lot of time outside in nature and could see over time how people were harming nature and how nature did not have a voice in our human world unless we gave it. And so the universe just helped me find my path so I could champion the rights of people and nature at the same time.
00:02:54 Pam Ferris-Olson So why did you think that becoming a lawyer was something you'd like to do?
00:03:00 Maya van Rossum I was actually in college. Lawyering was nowhere in my worldview or in my family history. But just by accident, I went to LaSalle University in the city of Philadelphia and I was doing environmental activism on my own, day in and day out in ways large and small. So I knew I loved the environment and I wanted to do something in the environmental arena, but I didn't know what or how to do it. I happened to take a class in law. Not really particularly interesting, but when I took that class I found it fascinating how the law worked. And so I was actually attracted to the law on its own. And I was attracted to protecting nature sort of on its own. And I asked the professor, I said, “Is there a way to combine my interests in law and nature together?” And he said, “Yes Maya, there's something called environmental law.” And that really is what set me on my journey.
00:04:04 Maya van Rossum And I went to a law school, Pace, that specializes in environmental law. And just learned about how to connect these two facets of interest in a way that was powerful and different. But I didn't go to law school to be a lawyer or to be a litigator; I went to law school to be a better environmental advocate and learn how I could use the law to better fight for the environment through my advocacy. And so that's what I've done with my legal knowledge, but of course, recognizing that litigating for the Earth is a powerful part of the solution. So as part of my work as the Delaware Riverkeeper and Green Amendments for the Generations, I have a legal team that does the litigation on behalf of my organizations.
00:04:52 Pam Ferris-Olson Okay, so when did you become interested in the Constitution and more specifically, how it spoke about environmental rights?
00:05:00 Maya van Rossum So I knew as the Delaware Riverkeeper fracking anywhere is bad for all of us everywhere. But if you pump up the pressure for fracking in Pennsylvania outside of the watershed, you would really be pumping up the pressure for politicians to allow fracking to come into the watershed. So part of my work was to help fend off fracking everywhere in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
00:05:27 Maya van Rossum In 2012, the Pennsylvania legislature, supported by the Pennsylvania governor, passed a devastatingly pro-fracking, pro-fossil fuel law, which put in place automatic waivers from environmental protection standards when it came to fracking, and literally mandated, by virtue of this state law that fracking be allowed to happen in every part of every community in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, including in the heart of residential communities. With operating fracking well pads being allowed to be located as close as 300 feet from people's homes, from hospitals, from playgrounds, from schools.
00:06:09 Maya van Rossum So this law was passed by the legislature, signed by the governor. And I knew on my role as the Delaware Riverkeeper, we had to find a way to challenge and defeat this law. But the question I and my legal team had was: how do you defeat a law passed by the legislature and signed by the governor? Really, if you want to do that successfully, you need some kind of higher power. And as part of our legal strategy, we recognize that in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, there was this long-ignored constitutional right of the people to pure water, clean air, and a healthy environment.
00:06:42 Maya van Rossum But we felt like this pro-fracking law was such an egregious overreach that maybe we could overturn the 42 years of bad legal precedent that had allowed government officials to ignore this constitutional environmental right of the people. And the long and the short of it is, that's exactly what we did. We challenged this law and elements of this law as being a violation of the constitutional rights of the people enshrined in the Bill of Rights section, the Declaration of Rights section of the Pennsylvania Constitution. And the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, a very conservative Supreme Court, actually agreed with us.
And in one fell swoop, struck down the provisions of that pro-fracking law that we were battling against; overturned 42 years of bad legal precedent and literally breathed legal life into this long-ignored constitutional right of the people to a clean, safe, and healthy environment.
00:07:42 Maya van Rossum One other state, Montana, had this kind of constitutional right of the people. And I vowed that I was going to change that. And that was the birth of the Green Amendment movement. And I now work nationwide to try to help people secure this highest quality of constitutional environmental rights protection. And once they've secured it, to enforce it.
00:08:04 Pam Ferris-Olson Clearly, you've done some serious thinking about the issue. And in 2017, you published a book titled The Green Amendment, Securing our Right to a Clean, Safe, and Healthy Environment. Give us a brief overview of the book and its main tenets.
00:08:21 Maya van Rossum So the book really, first off, tells a story about how we use Pennsylvania's Constitutional Environmental Rights Amendment, what I call a Green Amendment, to defeat that pro-fossil fuel law. And then through story, I explore the many ways that our current system of environmental protection laws in the United States of America fundamentally fails to protect communities. And then I also, at the same time, explore how Pennsylvania's, what I call Green Amendment, and Montana's Green Amendment have been used. Since they've been given legal vitality, have been used to secure critical protections that are not otherwise available. And then go on to talk about the inspirational power and protection of the Green Amendment movement, and how Green Amendments are really about we the people of the United States of America, using our system of democracy to take our power back and secure truly meaningful, enforceable constitutional environmental rights. But I try to explain all of that, right, through the stories of real people and real lives. People who have been harmed by environmental devastation allowed by our current laws but also people who have benefited from the kind of empowerment that constitutional environmental rights provides.
00:09:49 Pam Ferris-Olson What exactly is a Riverkeeper and what do you do in this capacity as the Delaware Riverkeeper?
00:09:57 Maya van Rossum So the first Riverkeeper in the nation was on the Hudson. It was a concept that was founded by a wonderful gentleman on the Hudson River, Bob Boyle, who recognized that if we are going to truly protect our environment, we need people to take personal responsibility for that protection. And he founded the idea of a Riverkeeper. The first Riverkeeper was on the Hudson. His name was John Cronin. The second Riverkeeper organization to exist in the United States of America was on the beautiful Delaware River, my beautiful Delaware Riverkeeper Network.
00:10:37 Maya van Rossum There are other organizations that have been inspired by the work and the successes that we've accomplished on the Hudson and the Delaware and have sought to start their own Riverkeeper organizations, each operating in their own ways. They are also now Baykeepers and Soundkeepers and Inletkeepers that are working for local waterways and in local communities. My Delaware Riverkeeper Network is about using advocacy and litigation to really go on to the point of the most difficult issues and take the most needed stance for the benefit of environmental and community protection and doing what's necessary to fight for it; again, through advocacy and through legal action. And we've had tremendous success.
00:11:25 Maya van Rossum As I've said, we've protected our watershed from the devastations of fracking. We have secured otherwise unrivaled protections for the genetically unique population of Atlantic sturgeon that only exists in the Delaware River. We've defeated devastating dam proposals and development projects and secured critical legal protections that otherwise would not exist for our beautiful waterways and communities. So the Delaware Riverkeeper Network really is a powerful organization made up of myself and my staff, but also people throughout the Delaware River watershed who work with me to give the Delaware River a voice in our human world and to fight for its protection. And fighting for the protection of the mainstem Delaware River, a river over 330 miles long, also means fighting for every single tributary stream that feeds it and every square mile of the 13,539-square-mile watershed in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware that really dictate the health of the river, whether it's for good or for bad.
00:12:32 Pam Ferris-Olson Well, I can hear your passion and your excitement, but I think like every environmental battle, you probably don't win every one of them. So how do you keep yourself energized?
00:12:47 Maya van Rossum I'm sort of sad to say that you are right that frankly more often than not we don't accomplish the end goal that we seek to accomplish. But often well, you know, we'll accomplish gradations of it, right? We might not get the total victory but we get some small wins along the way. But when we do have a victory, it is powerful. It is important, It is unprecedented.
00:13:10 Maya van Rossum You know, we would have communities ravaged by fossil fuel fracking but for the Delaware Riverkeeper Network. We would have communities right now being overwhelmed by liquefied natural gas export facilities but for the Delaware Riverkeeper network, and so much more. I think when it comes to facing the challenges, including the losses, I just feel that I don't really have a choice, right? I don't have a choice to sit down, shut up, and cry in the corner and feel sad for myself that we didn't win. Because while I'm busy wallowing, you know, the beautiful river and Mother Earth don't have the voice that I can contribute to their protection.
00:13:53 Maya van Rossum And the river in our communities are truly suffering and they need people to stay energized and to stay dedicated. So part of it is just the realization that I just don't think I have the luxury of becoming overwhelmed by sadness and upset. And I think that I'm also blessed with the good fortune, perhaps inspired by my mother, to just try to look at the positive, look at the victories. See down the line for what can we achieve if we just keep working and fighting on, right? And just continue to look at that positive vision of what we can accomplish if we keep striving and sort of stay focused on that victorious goal.
00:14:44 Pam Ferris-Olson So what factors need to be in place for this kind of success?
00:14:48 Maya van Rossum Very importantly, we need people who care, right? We need people who are going to come together and advocate for the environment. Because again, if we don't have people bringing the needs and the voice of our environment into our human world, then we will have industries and unscrupulous politicians that will continue to prioritize profits over people and nature and their own political agendas. So the most important thing we need are people.
00:15:16 Maya van Rossum Under our current system of environmental laws in the United States of America, it is not illegal to pollute the water, the air, the environment, to spew toxic contamination onto our landscapes, to fill in a river or a wetlands in devastating ways, right, to fuel a growing climate crisis. None of these things are illegal under our laws. And unless we the people, through our constitutions, have retained for ourselves a true human right to a clean and healthy environment that we can enforce, the industries get to continue to take advantage of that legalizing system. By transforming our laws, so that they are focused much more on prevention of pollution, degradation, and harm, and by securing a constitutional right, where in the final analysis, we the people always have ultimate power that we can exercise for environmental protection, that's how we're going to change the dynamic in a truly meaningful and lasting and legacy way for our communities and our environment. So we need a combination, people, better laws, and constitutional entitlement that we take advantage of.
00:16:32 Pam Ferris-Olson Let's talk about the people who are listening to your passion and who are horrified that it is legal to make a mess in our own backyard 300 feet… Oh my goodness. So please talk to listeners on how they can make a difference.
00:16:51 Maya van Rossum I'm going to say three things. One, if you live anywhere within or near the Delaware River watershed, then I'm going to encourage you to sign up with the Delaware Riverkeeper Network. It's free of charge at DelawareRiverkeeper.org. And we have such a wide array of issues that people can get involved in. And when you join, we, of course, send out regular communications to let you know how you could fight for a species that's in peril or for a critical ecosystem, right, or for a community in need of help. So that's if you're in the Delaware River watershed.
00:17:25 Maya van Rossum If you're not in my watershed, there are lots of wonderful environmental organizations everywhere across the nation. Go onto the computer, check around with your friends and neighbors. What is the most active environmental organization that's working within your community and working on the issues you care about?
00:17:46 Maya van Rossum If you care about animal protection, then find an organization working on animal protection. Don't go find an organization working on water or air issues, right? Find organizations that are focused on animals. If you care about rivers and streams, find an organization like mine, right? But be drawn to the organization that focuses on the kinds of environmental issues that are of greatest importance to you because that's where you're going to get the most joy and, therefore, that's where you're going to be the most effective. Find those organizations, sign up, and get active with them to the greatest degree you can.
00:18:24 Maya van Rossum And if you live anywhere within the nation, and you've heard me on the power and importance of actually having a constitutional right of the people to a clean, safe and healthy environment that's enforceable, go to greenamendment.org, and you can sign up for free. And on the Web site, we have what is happening in all the different states when it comes to the Green Amendment movement.
00:18:50 Maya van Rossum At this point, there are three states with Green Amendments: Pennsylvania, Montana, and New York. And within those states, we try to help people use their amendment to take on challenges like data centers, for example, and fighting for air quality and water quality and all sorts of critical issues. You'll find ways to get involved there.
00:19:14 Maya van Rossum If you're in a state where there is a Green Amendment proposal that's advancing but not yet secured, and that's over 20 states from coast to coast, Washington to New Jersey, the Hawaiian Islands, Michigan, Arizona in the middle, so many more states, you can learn through the website what's happening in your state, sign up and get involved.
And if you don't find your state listed on the website, it means that there is not a Green Amendment effort happening in your state. And you know what? You could be the person to make it happen. Because the fact of the matter is, the reason why we have the Green Amendment movement in Maine, in Washington, in Michigan, is because one person, like you, who is watching or listening right now, heard a podcast like this, read my book, read a news story, and said, “Wow, I want to do that in my state.” And they literally called me or emailed me, and I got back in touch, and we started to work together to make it happen. One person really can be the start of a Green Amendment movement in your state. So get involved in what's already happening or perhaps be the person to get it off the ground. But either way, I look forward to working with you.
00:20:26 Pam Ferris-Olson I can't imagine that anybody listening isn't energized and wanting to do something. So I want to thank you for being a dedicated advocate for a healthy environment.
00:20:38 Maya van Rossum And I want to thank you for your beautiful series and helping to spread the word.
00:20:42 Pam Ferris-Olson Thank you. Well, we'll both keep rallying on.
00:20:47 Pam Ferris-Olson So I'd like listeners to know that I've been speaking with Maya van Rossum, who is the latest guest on the Wo(men) Mind the Water Artivist Series podcast. The series can be viewed on womenmindthewater.com and YouTube. A transcript is available on womenmindthewater.com and an audio-only version can be heard on iTunes and Spotify.
00:21:09 Pam Ferris-Olson Wo(men) Mind the Water is grateful to Jaine Rice for the use of her song Women of Water. All rights for the Wo(men) Mind the Water name and logo belong to Pam Ferris-Olson. This is Pam Ferris-Olson.
