Maine Voices: Pine Tree Amendment would protect our environment, now and for decades to come

Our state constitution gives us the right to free speech, the right to own a gun, the right to assemble. But we don’t have the right to clean air, clean water or a healthy environment. Maybe it’s time we did.

Pine Tree Amendment fulfills intent of the Maine Constitution

Nathan Davis is a member of the Sierra Club Maine legislative team.

You may have heard about a proposed constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right to a clean and healthy environment to the people of Maine. This amendment is known as the  Pine Tree Amendment, and the Legislature’s Committee on Environment and Natural Resources has scheduled a  public hearing on the related bill ( LD 928) for March 22. This bill is sponsored by Rep. Maggie O’Neil of Saco and has a bipartisan list of cosponsors and the support of Sierra Club Maine.

Letter to the editor: If you care about Maine, care about the Pine Tree Amendment

Three years ago, I summited Mount Katahdin with my dad. We woke up incredibly early on an August morning and threw ourselves onto the Abol Trail, navigating massive boulders before the coffee and hot chocolate had kicked in. I didn’t raise my head from my muddy boots until we had reached the top with its scraggly wooden sign: “Mt. Katahdin: 5,269 feet.” My state seemed as big as the world. A collage of fields, roads, woods and rivers spread out below. It looked fragile from such a great height.

Right to a Healthy Environment

The goal that Peter Triandafillou is discussing in his column on May 18 is protecting this earth. We know that creation is under attack. The water and air are not clean everywhere and the
environment is not healthy for all people in Maine. The Pine Tree Amendment will be a guide for the executive branch, the legislature, municipalities and the courts as they have the job of protecting those elements that make Maine so attractive to Mainers and out-of-state tourists.

Commentary: Pine Tree Amendment would protect environmental rights

The natural beauty of Maine is breathtaking, stretching from salt marshes to forests to rivers to one’s own backyard. And in addition to its beauty and sanctity, Mainers depend on a clean and healthy environment to support quality of life, recreation, economic vitality, property values, and the health and safety of Maine communities. But did you know that in Maine, and in 47 other states across the nation, you do not have a constitutional right to a healthy environment?

Maine Senate proposes environmentally friendly amendment to state constitution

AUGUSTA, Maine (WABI) - As part of Wednesday’s work in Augusta, state senators discussed a proposed change to further protect the environment.

The “Pine Tree Amendment” would be hold the government accountable for consequences of future projects that may come with unforeseen environmental consequences.

There would also be accountability for not taking enough action towards climate change.

Pine Tree Amendment puts Mainers over corporations

The Pine Tree Amendment will be a provision inserted into the constitution that will guarantee these essential protections. The amendment states that, “The people of the State have the right to a clean and healthy environment and to the preservation of the natural, cultural and healthful qualities of the environment …”

Maine Senator Introduces Green Amendment to Secure Clean Air and Water Rights

Senator Maxmin hopes that the Pine Tree Amendment can encourage further discussion on what a fair clean energy transition will look like, specifically for the frontline communities who would traditionally be displaced from an energy transition. "No matter what, the Pine Tree Amendment gives us all the equal rights, the equal foundation and the equal footing to have these conversations," she concluded.

Pine Tree Amendment will protect our rights to a clean and healthy environment

Much of the environmental degradation which exists in this world, hurts people. This proposed amendment to the Maine constitution, the Pine Tree Amendment, would guarantee that people have the right to clean air, water and a healthy environment...

Pass the Pine Tree Amendment

The Maine Energy and Natural Resources Committee is considering a proposed constitutional amendment, LD 489. The amendment establishes our unequivocal right to clean water, and I urge people to express strong support to their representatives and senators...

Scott Vlaun: Pine Tree Amendment ensures right to clean, healthy environment

As the executive director of the Norway-based Center for an Ecology-Based Economy, I strongly support the Pine Tree Amendment for the simple reason that the PTA ensures that all Mainers have the right to a clean and healthy environment for generations to come.

Fighting for a livable planet

I have lived in Bar Harbor throughout my whole life. I am incredibly fortunate to have grown up mere miles away from Acadia National Park. Until much later, I did not fully realize and appreciate the outstanding uniqueness and beauty of the natural world we have the privilege to enjoy on this island.

Pine Tree Amendment campaigners amplify the cause to attain legislative attention

Through campaigning and citizen advocacy, the Pine Tree Amendment (LD 429) gains ground as the Environmental Priorities Coalition (EPC) commits to furthering the essential proposal. The purpose is to place a mandate within Article I of the Maine Constitution that our environmental rights be protected by the government.

Richard Killmer: A good idea in Maine should be replicated in Michigan

There is an idea coming out of the state of Maine which Michiganders could find very helpful. The Environment and Natural Resources Committee of the Maine Legislature passed recently an amendment to the Maine Constitution. It says the following: “The people of the State have the right to a clean and healthy environment and to the preservation of the natural, cultural and healthful qualities of the environment..."

Maine Voices: We must seize the chance to protect our environmental rights

My 23-year-old grandson, Iain Kurry, is a lifelong Mainer. In his free time, he enjoys hiking, fishing and hunting, while he spends an equally large portion of his time outdoors working throughout Maine as a geologist for an environmental consulting firm. He is outdoors a lot.

Senate Gives Support to Sen. Maxmin’s Pine Tree Amendment to Ensure the Right to a Healthy Environment

AUGUSTA — On Wednesday, the Maine Senate voted in favor of the Pine Tree Amendment, sponsored by Sen. Chloe Maxmin, D-Nobleboro. LD 489, “RESOLUTION, Proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of Maine To Establish a Right to a Healthy Environment,” received unanimous support in an initial vote. 

Pine Tree Amendment Ensures Future for My Generation

My name is Mira Hartmann, I am 13 years old, and I live in Edgecomb. I write regarding The Pine Tree Amendment (L.D. 489) which is very close to my heart.

Why we need to pass the Pine Tree Amendment

Growing up on my family’s farm in Nobleboro, I was raised with a deep appreciation for our natural environment and all it provides for us. Here in Maine, we rely on our environment for many things. We depend on it for recreation, from skiing, boating to hiking in the great Maine woods.

Maine Voices: How Pine Tree Amendment could benefit Maine’s environment, economy and future

Did you know that in 48 of our 50 states, people have no legal right to clean air, clean water or a healthy environment? State and local governments can enact policies and permits without considering the air you breathe or the water you drink...

Support Maxmin's amendment

I am writing in support of Senator Chloe Maxmin's Pine Tree Amendment, legislative bill LD489. This important bill would establish that Maine citizens have an inherent and inalienable right to clean air, water, and a healthy environment...

Pine Tree Amendment would enshrine a constitutional right to a clean environment

State lawmakers are getting another chance to consider the Pine Tree Amendment, a bill that would give voters an opportunity to add the right to a clean and healthy environment to the Maine Constitution.

 Maine birds need the Pine Tree Amendment

My name is Ian Doherty and I am a student at Falmouth High School. I am writing as a concerned citizen in support of the Pine Tree Amendment. This amendment to the state constitution is crucial because it ensures that all Mainers have the right to a clean and healthy environment and that legislatures, governors, permits, laws and more will be made with the respect to honoring our rights to a clean environment. 

Rev. Doretta Colburn: Our constitutional rights to a clean and healthy environment are long overdue

Who among us does not treasure the natural beauty of Maine’s landscape from ocean to mountains, lakes, rivers and all the breathtaking wonders we are so fortunate to be surrounded by? It is why we love Maine and why we want to protect it for future generations.

Reconnecting with nature

Maine winter is always a struggle for me. But this “pandemic winter,” with community events canceled, bars shut down, my work closed repeatedly and my circle of friends shrunk to just three, I was in total survival mode. Without the warmth of human interaction, I looked for love anywhere I could find it.

Why We Support the Pine Tree Amendment

As Mainers, we have a deep appreciation for the environment and all it can provide for us. Maine wouldn’t be the place we know and love without our scenic coastline, vast forests and snowy mountains. Our heritage industries and the workers who power them, from farmers to fishers and foresters, depend on healthy, thriving ecosystems. Protecting our land, air and water needs to be a priority if we want to keep our economy and our way of life strong for generations to come.

Rev. Richard Killmer and Sue
Inches: Pine Tree Amendment
protects our environmental
rights

If the Pine Tree Amendment passes, we’ll be sending a message to the world that a clean and healthy environment is our identity and our priority — for the long term. It would protect investments in business and real estate by ensuring that the environment will remain healthy and clean. It would protect the health of our children and grandchildren, and ensure that no Legislature, governor or law can take their fundamental environmental rights away.

Secure our environmental rights, please get vaccinated, let Mainers of French heritage speak for themselves

Maine thrives because of its natural wonders and hard-working people. So much of Maine depends on our environment: tourism, guides, agriculture, outdoor recreation. However, there are no legal protections for our environment in the Maine constitution.

Mainewhile: A healthy state of mind

This place, along with all the other special spots in this amazingly beautiful state we call home, is front and center on my mind this week as the Legislature prepares to consider LD 489, aka the Pine Tree Amendment, which would recognize and establish the right to a healthy environment.

Support the Pine Tree Amendment

An amendment to the Maine State Constitution has been proposed in the Legislature, LD 489. This Pine Tree Amendment seeks to guarantee “the right to a clean and healthy environment” for all people of Maine, now and for all future generations...