Adoption of We the People Amendment would help achieve green agenda: Letter to the Editor – cleveland.com

Governments needed to leave the U.N. climate summit committed to keeping remaining fossil fuels in the ground as soon as possible. Climate scientists have long warned that burning oil, coal and gas is the No. 1 contributor to the climate emergency. President Joe Biden must use his executive authority to stop federal fossil fuel expansion and dangerous pipeline projects. Congress must end fossil fuel production as soon as possible in ways that provide for workers and communities, and dramatically fund renewable energy technologies.

Making this difficult to achieve is the power of fossil fuel corporations, thanks to Supreme Court decisions awarding never-intended constitutional rights: First Amendment free speech rights to spend money influencing elections and policies; Fourth Amendment privacy rights preventing public inspections to protect communities and the environment; and Fifth Amendment takings rights that represent a massive deterrent to keeping fossil fuels in the ground since trillions of dollars of lost future profits would have to be compensated.

House Joint Res. 48, proposing the We the People Amendment, would abolish corporate constitutional rights, ensuring that the rights of people and the right to a livable world are achievable. Newly elected U.S. Rep. Shontel Brown needs to become a co-sponsor.

Greg Coleridge,

Cleveland Heights

Greg Coleridge is outreach director of the national Move to Amend Coalition.

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Adoption of We the People Amendment would help achieve green agenda: Letter to the Editor - cleveland.com