The right to clean water, clean air and a healthy environment will be enshrined in the Constitution of the State of New York after the “yes” of voters in the referendum organized on the sidelines of local polls on Tuesday, November 2.
"Everyone has the right to clean air and water, as well as to a healthy environment"
, we can now read in the fundamental text of this State of about 20 million inhabitants, the fourth most populated United States.
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After the counting of more than 99% of the districts, the "yes" won Wednesday with 60.8% of the votes cast (27% against, 11.7% white) on the site of the State of New York, and his supporters claimed victory. Despite a low turnout (3.1 million voters for 12.3 million registered), environmental defense associations see it as an important step forward, in the midst of COP26.
“Clean water and air are not a given. For too long, our most vulnerable communities have been victims of high levels of air pollution and water contamination
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New York League of Green Voters President Julie Tighe told AFP. .
Questions remain on the truly binding nature of this right, and the supporters of the “no” have put forward a risk of inflation of lawsuits likely to slow down economic projects.
"The courts will have a lot of work to determine what these rights mean exactly,"
Peter Bauer, director of the association "Protect the Adirondacks", named after the large park in the north of France, told AFP. 'State, while welcoming a breakthrough.
New York State stretches beyond the eponymous megacity north to the border with Canada and includes vast natural areas, such as the Adirondack Mountains.
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The inclusion of rights related to the environment in fundamental texts is now a recurring issue in many countries.
In France, the project to include in article 1 of the Constitution the guarantee of "the preservation of the environment and biological diversity and (of) the fight against climate change" was abandoned by the government at the beginning of July. , lack of consensus in Parliament.
According to the American site Ballotpedia, Pennsylvania was the first American state to include the environment in its Constitution in 1971, before five other states (Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Montana and Rhode Island).