• A “green amendment” proposed by New Mexico lawmakers to the state’s constitution — one of 10 such proposals nationwide — has stalled in part due to concerns held by a renewable energy trade association, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.
• The proposed amendment would result in renewable energy firms being at increased risk of lawsuits as courts determined the extent of the amendment, which is open to interpretation, the Interwest Energy Alliance alleged, mirroring a report by the state’s Legislative Finance Committee.
• Democratic State Sen. Antoinette Sedillo Lopez dubbed such criticism “misinformation,” but nonetheless declined to put the bill up for discussion, the Post reported.

A growing movement of state legislatures are considering “green amendments” to their constitutions, with a recent effort in New Mexico being thwarted in part by concerns held by a renewable energy trade association, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

Green amendments, which typically guarantee rights to clean air, water and other resources, have been proposed in ten states and ratified in three, with New York’s December 2021 ratification coming roughly 50 years after those implemented in Pennsylvania and Montana, according to the Post. While advocates believe that such legislation can help advance their climate goals, a recent effort to pass a green amendment in New Mexico has stalled amid pushback from both the state’s Finance Committee and a trade group representing green interests, who each alleged that the amendment would put green projects at risk of unnecessary litigation.

“Having a green amendment on the books will give those opponents one more tool in their toolbox to try to thwart projects or delay projects,” Sam Johnston, policy manager at Interwest Energy Alliance (IEA) told The Washington Post. New Mexico’s proposal in particular is open to interpretation and would expose green firms to lawsuits from private individuals, who would have a new justification to challenge renewable energy facilities, Johnston said.

The state’s Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department expressed similar concerns that Pennsylvania’s green amendment had been used twice to limit the state’s ability to regulate oil and gas projects, according to a report compiled by the state’s Legislative Finance Committee (LFC), which cites analysis from Secretary of State’s office and the New Mexico Environment Department. The amendment would also introduce “legal uncertainty” as written, which might result in “costly litigation” that could reduce the economic viability of some projects.

“The people of the state shall be entitled to clean and healthy air, water, soil and environment; a stable climate; and self-sustaining ecosystems, for the benefit of public health, safety and general welfare,” reads the proposed amendment. The amendment also charges the “state, counties and municipalities” to protect the state’s natural resources for “present and future generations” and that the law could be applied to penalize the state.

One of the legislation’s cosponsors, Democratic State Sen. Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, dubbed the LFC’s report, and a similar memo released on behalf of the IEA by lobbying firm Holland & Hart, “misinformation,” in a statement to the Post.

“It is basically saying that the green amendment would be bad for renewable energy, which is absolutely false,” she told the Post. “The analysis is filled with misstatements, miscitations of laws.”

Sedillo Lopez ultimately opted not to put the bill up for discussion, after the two reports were released, although she was initially optimistic about its chance to advance, according to the Post.

Green amendments, which typically put the burden of proof on those who might impact the environment to demonstrate that their proposals are safe, have had limited impact since the Pennsylvania and Montana amendments were restricted by courts early in their lifespan, according to a 2021 report by the Rockefeller Institute, which predated the New York amendment. The report notes that the impact of New York’s amendment would likely be heavily determined by early litigation that helped define its limits, while noting that more recent litigation has expanded the impact of amendments in the two earlier states.

Maya van Rossum, founder of advocacy group Green Amendments For The Generations, which supports efforts to introduce or ratify green amendments in 18 state legislatures nationwide, told the Post that she believed that the amendment’s acknowledgement of “present and future generations” actually strengthened legal protections for clean energy projects.

“The focus of the green amendment, regardless of whatever industry or business operations are at play, is protecting environmental rights and protecting environmental justice,” van Rossum told the Post.

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