NJ Green Amendment Movement Launches 2020 Efforts With Community Postcard Parties

TRENTON – The New Jersey Green Amendment movement is launching its 2020 efforts with a letter-writing campaign Jan. 21 across the state. 
According to a release, Green Amendments For The Generations, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, New Jersey Highlands Coalition, Environment New Jersey, Sierra Club, Clean Water Action, and Green Summit NJ will be organizing and hosting three public postcard parties, in addition to several private living room postcard parties hosted by New Jersey community members.
At the postcard parties, New Jerseyans will get the opportunity to meet with other community members who are engaged in the movement to secure constitutional level protection of their right to pure water, clean air, a stable climate, and healthy environments; learn about and discuss the need and implications of a Green Amendment in New Jersey, and write to their legislators to tell them why they need a Green Amendment in New Jersey.
The New Jersey Green Amendment was first introduced in November 2017 and passed through the Senate Environment Committee in October 2018 with a bipartisan supermajority. 
The Green Amendment was reintroduced Jan. 14, 2020 with 29 sponsors in the Assembly and 11 sponsors joining the primary sponsors Sens. Greenstein, Bateman, Assemblymembers Pinkin, McKeon and Benson.
“While the people of New Jersey have a right to free speech, freedom of religion and to bear arms, they do not have the right to clean water and air, to a stable climate or to live in environments free of dangerous toxins and able to provide the many health, economic and quality of life benefits that healthy environments provide. The people of New Jersey deserve to have their environmental rights protected and enshrined in the state constitution,” stated Maya van Rossum, the Delaware Riverkeeper and founder of Green Amendments for the Generations. 
“These postcard parties are a way for communities to voice their support for a Green Amendment to protect not only their rights, but also the rights of future generations.”
“We need governments across the nation at the local and state level to honor the rights of all people to pure water, clean air and healthy environments. This is why I am participating in actions that advance the cause to ensure that every individual lives in a safe and healthy environment,” stated Gayle Rembold Rubert, who is inviting her friends and fellow activists into her home to connect on the Green Amendment.
“The more we talk about a New Jersey Green Amendment the more the momentum grows to support it, not only among legislators in Trenton, but in communities across the state, as we see at Postcard Signing Parties. Here, at these gathering, when neighbors come to learn about the New Jersey Green Amendment they clearly see how it will lead to a safer, cleaner environment for subsequent generations, while also participating in the legislative process in a meaningful way,” stated Elliott Ruga, Policy and Communications Director of the New Jersey Highlands Coalition.
“These postcard parties are truly a tool for the community and were born out of monthly webinars with New Jerseyans interested in a Green Amendment. The community wanted a way to reach out to legislators, and these postcard parties allow constituents to directly tell their legislators why a Green Amendment is important,” stated Doug O’Malley, Environment New Jersey director.
“New Jersey communities are seeking solutions to pollution and environmental degradation, and a Green Amendment can fulfill this need. Every member of the New Jersey legislature needs to protect environmental rights as an inalienable human right. These postcard parties will help build support, as we kick off our 2020 efforts,” stated Amy Goldsmith, director of Clean Water Action.
The events are free to the public and will be held Jan. 21 in the following times and locations:
*Green Summit NJ: 9:30 a.m.– noon; The Co-Co, 115 Summit Ave, Summit, NJ 07901
*Green Amendments For The Generations: 6:30 – 8 p.m.; Free Public Library of
Monroe Township, 713 Marsha Ave, Williamstown, NJ 08094
*New Jersey Highlands Coalition: 7 p.m.; Parsippany-Troy Hills Library Main Branch,
449 Halsey Rd. Parsippany-Troy Hills, NJ 07054