The 2024 Youth Climate Summit featured a speaker urging young people to get involved in passing a “Green Amendment” to the Nebraska Constitution. (Courtesy of Nebraska Interfaith Power and Light)
LINCOLN — In the states of Montana, Pennsylvania and New York, state constitutions include a clause that gives citizens a right to a “clean and healthy environment.”
At the recent Nebraska Youth Climate Summit, about 200 high school and college students were told that it’s time for Nebraska to consider adopting a similar “Green Amendment” to its state constitution to ensure a clean environment during a time of climate change.
“It is a tool for people to protect themselves and the environment they live in,” said Sheridan Macy, an Omaha native and recent law school graduate.
“It’s also a good tool for holding the government accountable, especially when the government is hostile to environmental concerns,” added Macy, a post-graduate fellow at the Penn Carey Law School in Philadelphia.
Macy was one of the featured speakers at the recent Nebraska Youth Climate Summit, which was launched in 2016 as a way to educate young people about environmental issues and empower them to do something about public policies.