After the ’25 legislative session ends without action, environmental activists will look to Oregon voters.
The supporters of a climate amendment that failed to pass during the 2025 Oregon Legislative session have announced they’ll put the question to voters anyway.
Joint Resolution 28 would have referred a measure to the November 2026 ballot asking voters whether to amend the state constitution to guarantee the right to a healthy and safe climate. The bill died without a vote in the Senate committee it was assigned, reported the Oregon Capital Chronicle.
“A healthy environment is necessary for the well-being of current and future Oregonians, the economic well-being of the state, and for the world,” wrote supporter Virginia Scott of the group Current and Future Generations.
Supporters of JR 28 told the Capital Chronicle they aren’t sure why the bill died in committee. A chief sponsor, Sen. Jeff Golden (D-Ashland), believes some lawmakers were afraid the bill stood a low likelihood of success at the ballot.
Supporters expect strong opposition from business groups who would argue a constitutional climate amendment would further damage the state economy, which has lately seen a number of high-profile companies relocate or expand elsewhere. A number of people testified against JR 28 at a public hearing this year, including representatives of the group Oregon Business & Industry, Associated General Contractors and the Northwest Gas Association. Opponents say the amendment is not necessary and vague language in the bill could be used against Oregonians in frivolous lawsuits.
“The right to clean air and such is an inalienable right and any logical thinker would understand this,” wrote Doris Schaefer of Albany. “When you start wording regulations like this, you are opening the door for the government to tell us how we can implement those rights and taxes and force us to pay fees, fines, etc.”
In May, members of the Oregon Coalition for an Environmental Rights Amendment filed an initiative petition with the state Secretary of State’s office to ask voters to amend the state constitution to — among other things — guarantee “all people including children and future generations, have the inherent fundamental right to a clean, safe and healthy environment, including but not limited to clean air, clean water, thriving ecosystems and a stable climate system.” It would allow Oregonians a civil cause of action to sue the state government or its agencies for failing to live up to its promise.
On June 20, supporters submitted more than 1,200 signatures for verification; 1,000 are needed to begin the drafting process. To make the November 2026 ballot, supporters now must collect 156,321 valid signatures from Oregon voters by July.
A group of young people made national headlines in 2015 filing a noteworthy case in U.S. District Court in Oregon. The plaintiffs included 11 Oregonians including Beaverton’s Miko Vergun, who is among the petitioners of the proposed climate amendment. The U.S. Supreme Court recently declined to review a lower court’s order dismissing the 2015 case, Juliana v. U.S.
Oregon has a robust history of direct democracy, which began, appropriately enough, by voter petition in 1902. The development of the “Oregon System” was intended to avoid the political corruption common to elected bodies and avert legislative gridlock. And though Oregon was the first state to seriously propose permitting legislative change by referendum, Nebraska beat the Beaver State by five years.
If passed, Oregon would join Montana, Pennsylvania and New York as states with climate amendments to their governing documents.
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