Realization of the Right to Environment Protection as a Fundamental Right in the United States: Some Reflections

This paper advocates for the recognition of the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment as a fundamental right under the current text and content of the U.S. Constitution, specifically through the Due Process Clauses of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. The research underscores that existing legal mechanisms—such as the Equal Protection Clause, civil rights statutes, and federal environmental laws—are insufficient to consistently and robustly protect environmental rights or ensure environmental justice, particularly for marginalized communities. The paper argues that environmental justice cannot be achieved without grounding environmental rights in constitutional norms, and demonstrates that such a right is embedded in the nation's history, tradition, and concept of ordered liberty. Drawing from state constitutional models, international instruments, and evolving jurisprudence, the paper further contends that environmental rights can be inferred as penumbras of substantive due process. It concludes that recognizing environmental rights as fundamental would empower individuals and communities to challenge harmful government actions or omissions and require courts to apply strict scrutiny to policies that compromise environmental integrity. This framework offers a durable and just path toward achieving environmental equity, resilience, and protection across generations.