GA Advocacy

February 12, 2026, the federal government eliminated its endangerment finding—a foundational step taken years ago to support nationwide reduction of GHGs, particularly as the result of vehicle emissions. Green Amendments For The Generations and our sister organization Delaware Riverkeeper Network write to the Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to urge strong state action. Our letter makes clear that regardless of where the federal government ultimately lands in the battle to regulate climate-changing emissions, Pennsylvania government officials and agencies have — by virtue of the Pennsylvania Green Amendment constitutional mandate — their own independent duty to mitigate climate change.

The letter sent today makes clear that Pennsylvania’s Green Amendment – Article I, Section 27 of the state constitution — requires Pennsylvania Agencies to use their statutory and regulatory authority to abate and remedy climate change. This duty exists even if the Commonwealth is not the cause of environmental degradation, and even if the actions of the PA Agencies alone are unsuccessful in preserving the public natural resources from climate change.

You can read the letter here.

UPDATE!

All the calls and outreach worked. The scheduled vote was cancelled. We are expecting an amended version to come forth, but for now, and by working together, we achieved a major victory!

Pennsylvania legislators are considering a proposal to amend the state Municipalities Planning Code with a model zoning ordinance for data centers written by the industry friendly Department of Community & Economic Development. There are many concerns. Among them is that the ordinance will be designed to benefit data center developers rather than to protect communities and our environment.

Green Amendments For The Generations has joined forces with Delaware Riverkeeper Network to submit a comment of opposition. We are also joining with our colleagues at the Better Path Coalition and Food and Water Watch to encourage others to speak out.

Learn more about the proposal and how you can engage here.

In Pennsylvania, Talen Energy Supply, LLC (Talen Energy) is asking the Montour County Commissioners to rezone over 800 acres of land from zoning as agricultural, public/semi public or rural residential uses to an industrial use designation.  In response to strong community advocacy, Talen Energy confirmed that the change in zoning was needed to support a planned data center.

Very little information has been made available about the actual data center itself.

After a robust hearing in November, 2025, the Montour County Planning Commission recommended that the  rezoning request be rejected by the County Commissioners who are the final arbiter of the petition.

The County Commissioners invited written comment and held a hearing on January 23, 2026. Despite it being a work week, work day hearing (friday starting at 9:30 am), the room was full and the testimony was powerful.

Green Amendments For The Generations submitted written comment urging rejection of the rezoning request and joined the community in offering testimony at the hearing.

On February 10^th, the Montour County Commissioners unanimously voted NO to rezone approx. 1000 acres of farmland to industrial to allow for a data center and powerplant proposal by Talen Energy and Amazon. Community member after community member described this battle as David vs. Goliath, and they couldn’t be more right. Pennsylvania’s Green Amendment, Article 1 Section 27, was mentioned several times at the earlier commissioners hearing in January.

The duties articulated by the Pennsylvania Green Amendment apply to government officials at the state level, but also at the county and municipal level. With this vote the commissioners have upheld their constitutional duty by denying this harmful rezoning that would have opened the door to a harmful industry. The Green Amendment is a powerful tool for communities to stand up against harmful projects, like data centers, and we are seeing it being used more and more by community members like those in Montour County.

In Albany County, upstate New York, residents organized under the moniker Lights Out Norlite, have been fighting to protect themselves from polluting air emissions released by Norlite.  Norlite is an industrial facility that burns hazardous waste, including waste fuels and used heating oils. Releases from Norlite include crystalline silica and dangerous levels of particulate matter.  Inhalation of crystalline silica can cause irreversible lung damage, and can lead to lung disease, COPD, kidney disease, autoimmune disorders, cardiovascular impairment, and lung cancer. Exposure to small particulate matter of the kind released from Norlite can cause severe adverse health consequences, including cardiac disorders, exacerbating asthma, causing bronchitis, cerebrovascular incidents, increased risk of diabetes, and increased rate of mortality for those exposed. In addition, Norlite is responsible for noxious odors, fumes, smoke, noise and vibrations that have harmed neighboring residents and communities.

Norlite is known by the state to repeatedly violate air emission limits that apply to their facility and operations.  Despite these known and repeated violations, the state has allowed the facility to continue to operate, and failed to tak meaningful legal or enforcement action to protect the environment and the environmental rights of impacted neighbors.  Several of the impacted neighborhoods around the plant have been identified as potential environmental justice areas and include a high proportion of minority and/or low income residents.  In response, with their Green Amendment rights now in hand, residents have brought legal action against the facility, but also against the state for its failure to protect the constitutional rights of impacted community members to clean water and air and a healthful environment.

To support the community’s legal action and the Green Amendment arguments they have raised, Green Amendments For The Generations and our sister organization Delaware Riverkeeper Network have filed an amicus brief.  You can read the Amicus Brief we filed here. 

The Intercept news outlet has published a great article outlining the story.

To learn more about, & support, the community’s efforts, their website has a wealth of information and can be found at: https://lightsoutnorlite.org

Global Pact Coalition

Green Amendments for the Generations

Joint Statement

The U.S. team of the Global Pact Coalition and Green Amendment for the Generations are thrilled to announce that they will now work together towards securing the right to a healthy environment in the United States.

The goal of Green Amendments For The Generations is to advance a Green Amendment movement that sweeps the nation and secures for all people constitutional recognition and protection of their inalienable rights to pure water, clean air, a stable climate and healthy environments. Communities are suffering as the result of environmental degradation, with increasing harm caused by a human induced climate crisis, including floods, droughts, disease, impacts to food, changing weather dynamics and more. Reliance on legislation to protect the environment has not been enough, as our laws are designed to accommodate pollution rather than prevent it. Securing the passage of enforceable environmental rights amendments in the Bill of Rights section of every constitution – state and federal – provides a powerful solution for the people here today and generations to come.

The goal of the Global Pact Coalition is to mobilize support towards the adoption of a Global Pact for the Environment, an international treaty that would recognize the right to a healthy environment for all and secure our environmental rights and duties. This draft international text aims to enshrine a new generation of fundamental rights related to the protection of the environment, and in particular, the right to a healthy environment. While the Global Pact Coalition works at the international level, the U.S. team of the Global Pact focuses on American citizens and residents’ environmental rights and aims to receive support from American citizens/residents, hoping that the federal government will support the adoption of the Global Pact for the Environment.

Civil society must come together to demand that States recognize and protect the rights to a healthy environment in the Bill of Rights section of the Constitution. Green Amendments For The Generations and the U.S. team of the Global Pact will therefore join their forces and work together to mobilize support and inspire the recognition of your right to a healthy environment at the federal level.

The Delaware River is home to a genetically unique population of Atlantic Sturgeon found nowhere else in the world. The Atlantic sturgeon, listed as a federally protected endangered species since 2012, has a storied history in our Delaware River. Early American settlers said there were so many they could cross the River walking on their backs. But today, there are less than 250 spawning adults left of the River’s genetically unique line. Resource managers and regulatory agencies have neglected their duties to protect the health, habitat, and safety of the sturgeon. Soon it will be too late. The agencies have lacked in their duties by:

• The Delaware River Basin Commission is failing to pass legal standards needed to ensure the sturgeon have enough oxygen in the water to support every aspect of their lives.
• The USEPA is, like the DRBC, failing to ensure needed pollution protection standards.
• The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers keeps dredging and deepening the River, inflicting direct harm on the sturgeon and permitting passage of bigger ships that are slicing the sturgeon with their propellers or bashing them to death with their immense size.
• The National Marine Fisheries Service says yes to every dredging, development, port, industrial operation and powerplant put before them, despite their direct harms on the sturgeon.

On November 16th, 2022, Green Amendments For The Generations, along with organizational allies gathered outside of Philadelphia City Hall in a mock funeral demonstration to demand action to save the Delaware River’s unique population of Atlantic Sturgeon. Read more about the action in our press release.

If you want to help, please sign the petition to urge the agencies to act and Save The Atlantic Sturgeon of the Delaware.

For more information about the event, issue, and background information, please visit https://dinointhedelaware.org/