On December 19, 2013, Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court released an opinion determining that specific parts of the Oil and Gas Act (Act 13 of 2012) were unconstitutional. Three justices turned to the state Constitution’s Article 1, Section 27 – as the basis of their concerns. While we all don’t read or memorize the State Constitution, the Environmental Rights Amendment established a “social contract between government and the people”. Without the amendment, Pennsylvania could once again repeat its devastating history of disregard for the value of the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the natural resources we cherish. We expect our government to “uphold its’ constitutional obligation. Our future depends upon it.
Constitution of The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Article 1, Section 27
The people have a right to clean air, pure water and to the preservation of the natural, scenic historic and esthetic values of the environment.
Pennsylvania’s public natural resources are the common property of all the people, including generations yet to come.
As trustee of these resources, the Commonwealth shall conserve and maintain them for the benefit of all the people.
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