The Right to Breathe: A Constitutional Path to an Environmental Amendment

Authors

  • Kyle J. Bobeck

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5195/lawreview.2023.998

Abstract

The constitutions of more than three-quarters of the countries on Earth explicitly reference environmental rights or responsibilities, but that is not the case in the United States. The U.S. Constitution contains no unequivocal right to a clean environment, and attempts to sway federal judges to find an implied right have not been successful. Recently, in Juliana v. United States, plaintiffs pursued an order requiring the federal government to reduce the country’s carbon dioxide emissions. While the Oregon district court ostensibly favored such an order, a divided Ninth Circuit held in 2020 that the plaintiffs lacked standing.

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Published

2024-08-23

How to Cite

Bobeck, Kyle J. 2024. “The Right to Breathe: A Constitutional Path to an Environmental Amendment”. University of Pittsburgh Law Review 85 (2). https://doi.org/10.5195/lawreview.2023.998.

Issue

Vol. 85 No. 2 (2023): Print Edition

Section

Note

License

Copyright (c) 2024 Kyle Joseph Bobeck

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