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Colorado Public Trust Resources Amendment (2014)
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| This measure was not put on an election ballot |
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A Colorado Public Trust Resources Amendment did not make the November 4, 2014 ballot in Colorado as an initiated constitutional amendment. The measure would have created a public trust for the natural and environmental resources under public ownership, including clean air, clean water and the preservation of the environment and natural resources. It would have also required the state to conserve and maintain public trust resources by using the best science available to protect them against any substantial impairment, regardless of any prior federal, state or local approval.[1][2]
The measure would have amended Article XVI of the Colorado Constitution by adding a section 9 to it.[1]
Text of measure
If the measure been placed on the ballot, the language would have appeared as:[2]
| “ | Shall there be an amendment to the Colorado constitution concerning public ownership of natural and environmental resources, and, in connection therewith, creating a public trust in those resources, which include clean air, clean water, and the preservation of the environment and natural resources; requiring the state, as trustee, to conserve and maintain public trust resources by using the best science available to protect them against any substantial impairment, regardless of any prior federal, state, or local approval; seeking natural resource damages from anyone who substantially impairs them, and using damages obtained to remediate the impairment; allowing Colorado citizens to file enforcement actions in court; requiring anyone who is proposing an action or policy that might substantially impair public trust resources to prove that the action or policy is not harmful; and criminalizing the manipulation of data, reports, or scientific information in an attempt to use public trust resources for private profit?[3] | ” |
Constitutional changes
The measure, if approved, would amended Article XVI of the Colorado Constitution by adding a section 9 to it. The full text of the proposed changes can be read here.
Support
- Phillip Doe, primary proponent
- Barbera Mills-Bria, second proponent
Path to the ballot
Supporters would have had to gather 86,105 valid signatures by Monday, August 4 at 3:00 PM for the measure to appear on the ballot. However, the measure never made it to the signature gathering, phase as its title setting was denied by a four to three vote of the Colorado Supreme Court on June 30, 2014.[4][5]
See also
- Colorado 2014 ballot measures
- 2014 ballot measures
- Colorado Legislature
- List of Colorado ballot measures
External links
- Colorado Initiatives Submitted for Review and Comment for 2013-2014
- Full text of proposed initiative #103
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Colorado Secretary of State, "Final text of proposed initiative 103," accessed May 26, 2014
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Colorado Secretary of State, "Results for Proposed Initiative #103 Ballot Title Setting Board 2013-2014," accessed May 26, 2014
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Oregon Supreme Court, "Opinion: Supreme Court Case No. 14SA137," June 30, 2014
- ↑ Colorado Water Stewardship Project, "Featured in The Watch: Colorado Supreme Court Blocks Progress of Public Trust Doctrine," July 3, 2014
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State of Colorado Denver (capital) |
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