Oregon Coalition
for an Environmental Rights Amendment

What is OCERA?

Who they are:

Oregon Coalition for an Environmental Rights Amendment (OCERA) is a diverse and growing statewide alliance of Oregonians united by one goal: to enshrine the Right to a Healthy Environment in the Oregon Constitution. The coalition includes rural and urban communities, faith-based organizations, climate advocates, and legal and policy experts.

What they’re doing:

We’re working to pass a constitutional amendment to guarantee that every Oregonian—including children and future generations—has the right to clean air and water, a stable climate, and healthy ecosystems.

The Right to a Healthy Environment Amendment would:

  • Guarantee this fundamental right in the Oregon Constitution’s Bill of Rights to secure the health and safety of all Oregonians from harmful environmental degradation.
  • Require the state government to protect public natural resources based on the best available science.
  • Provide legal clarity and durable protections that can’t be overturned by changing political tides
Why this matters:

Climate pollution and environmental degradation threaten the health and safety of every Oregonian—especially our youth. From extreme wildfires to groundwater contamination, our environment and public health are at growing risk.

While Oregon has some environmental protections, they are vulnerable to rollbacks and have not protected Oregonians’ health and safety from mounting environmental harms. The Right to a Healthy Environment Amendment would serve as a constitutional safety net, and inducement for responsible, proactive government actions.

See also: https://socan.eco/should-oregon-adopt-an-environmental-rights-amendment/

Background on The Oregon Environmental Rights Amendment

According to the Declaration of Independence,  Americans enjoy an inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  Another right, rooted in Roman Law and evident in early British Law, is the Public Trust Doctrine.  Serving as the basis of much environmental advocacy, as argued by Erin Ryan (College of Law, Florida State University), this doctrine represents “….a set of public rights and responsibilities with regard to certain natural resource commons, obligating the state to manage them in trust for the public.” Ryan continues by stating “To prevent private expropriation or monopolization of these critical public commons, the government—be it the Emperor, the King, or later, the elected executive and legislative branches—was entrusted to manage them on behalf of the public.” Without a healthy environment, it is difficult to imagine how the rights to life and the pursuit of happiness can be guaranteed.

A Public Trust Doctrine

The Public Trust Doctrine represents a solid basis upon which residents of a state or nation can legally demand that natural resources should be protected from abuse or mismanagement.  Our Children’s Trust, the Eugene-based  non-profit public interest law firm dedicated exclusively to securing the legal rights of youth to a healthy atmosphere and safe climate, employs the Public Trust Doctrine in efforts to hold governments accountable for the destruction of this natural resource and responsible for reversing its ongoing destruction.

It appears that courts in states incorporating into their constitution the right to a healthy environment are more receptive to legal claims that our natural resources should be protected for our children and for future generations than are states which lack such a constitutional right.  For example, in Montana where such a right exists, a lawsuit designed to protect natural resources was successful whereas in Oregon, which lacks such a provision, such a suit was not.  Given Oregon’s reputation as a green and environmentally friendly state, this absence may seem surprising.

The Oregon Coalition for an Environmental Rights Amendment brings together individuals and organization sharing the mission of redressing this oversight by urging Oregonians, through a ballot measure, to adjust the state constitution such that it grants us the right to a healthy environment.  Because the actions of Our Children’s Trust are very much tied to the need to protect our climate from the misuse of our atmospheres as a dumping ground for waste (greenhouse) gases, Southern Oregon Climate Action Now has endorsed this effort

Our Children’s Trust

Who is “Our Children’s Trust?”

Mission: Our Children’s Trust is a non-profit public interest law firm that provides strategic, campaign-based legal services to youth from diverse backgrounds to secure their legal rights to a safe climate. We work to protect the Earth’s climate system for present and future generations by representing young people in global legal efforts to secure their binding and enforceable legal rights to a healthy atmosphere and stable climate, based on the best available science. Similarly, we support our youth clients and amplify their voices before the third branch of government in a highly strategic legal campaign that includes targeted media, education, and public engagement work to support the youths’ legal actions. Our legal work – guided by constitutional, public trust, human rights laws and the laws of nature – aims to ensure systematic and science-based climate recovery planning and remedies of federal, state, and global levels.

See also: https://socan.eco/should-oregon-adopt-an-environmental-rights-amendment/

Resources for Information and Action

The global Youth v. Gov community includes young plaintiffs represented and supported by Our Children’s Trust in climate litigation and legal actions across the United States and around the world, including: