North American Association for Environmental Education Annual Conference

About the book:
In the decades long fight for a cleaner environment, we’ve been fighting a losing battle. The sad truth is, our laws are designed to accommodate pollution rather than prevent it. People feel powerless when it comes to preserving the quality of their water, air, public parks, and special natural spaces.

The solution, argues Delaware Riverkeeper Maya K. van Rossum in a pathbreaking book, is to bypass the laws and turn to the ultimate authority: our state and federal constitutions. In 2013, van Rossum and her team won a watershed legal victory that not only protected Pennsylvania communities from ruthless frackers, but affirmed the constitutional right of people in the state to a clean and healthy environment.

Following this victory, van Rossum inaugurated the Green Amendment movement, dedicated to empowering every American community to mobilize for constitutional change. In The Green Amendment, van Rossum lays out an inspiring new agenda for environmental advocacy, one that will finally empower people.

We all have the right to pure water, clean air, and a healthy environment. It’s time to claim that right—for our own sake and that of future generations.

The Green Amendment has been honored as a 2018 Living Now Evergreen Awards GOLD Winner in the Nature Conservation category, received an Honorable Mention in the 2017 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards, and includes a powerful foreword authored by Mark Ruffalo, which supports the visionary constitutional path advocated for in the book.

Purchase a copy of The Green Amendment here.

About the Author:
Maya K. van Rossum is the Delaware Riverkeeper and leader for the Delaware Riverkeeper Network.  The Delaware Riverkeeper Network works throughout the four states of the Delaware River watershed (NY, NJ, PA & DE) and at the national level using advocacy, science and litigation. van Rossum, who is skilled as an environmental attorney, strategist, community organizer, facilitator, coalition builder and manager, has led DRN for over 23 years. She is author of The Green Amendment: Securing Our Right to a Healthy Environment and is the original petitioner and leader of the Green Amendment movement, seeking to inspire and secure constitutional protection for environmental rights across the nation.  Maya is also a lifetime resident of Radnor Township, Pennsylvania, having grown up in Villanova and now residing with her family in Bryn Mawr. During her years in Radnor, she has enjoyed the creeks and natural space of Radnor and the Delaware County region.  Some of these experiences feature prominently in her book.