Student speaker urges 'Green Amendment'; commissioners say county adopted supporting resolution unanimously

Mawlotsah Kumar, a high school junior from Rutgers Preparatory School in Somerset and a member of the New Jersey State and Sustainable Coalition, urged Somerset County commissioners to pass a resolution supporting a proposed state constitutional environmental-rights amendment often called the "Green Amendment."

"Every person has a right to a clean and healthy environment, including pure water, clean air, a safe climate," Kumar said, summarizing proposed ballot language she attributed to Assembly and Senate measures (she mentioned ACR 193 and ACR 43 by number) and urging the commissioners to signal support so the amendment could be placed on a future ballot.

Kumar told commissioners that the amendment would place environmental rights alongside other constitutionally protected rights, and said it would provide a legal pathway for communities to challenge proposed projects that might threaten air or water quality. She noted Somerset County's eight Superfund sites as context for her request.

A commissioner responding from the dais said the resolution was on the meeting agenda that evening and "I believe we all adopted it unanimously." The speaker thanked Kumar for her presentation.

What was decided: the meeting record shows the county had the item on the agenda and a commissioner indicated the board adopted the resolution in that session. The transcript does not include a separate readout of a roll-call vote for that specific resolution in the public-comment exchange; the commissioner's statement in the meeting serves as the record that it was adopted unanimously.

Ending: Kumar and county officials encouraged continued public engagement on environmental policy; the transcript indicates the county will move forward with the adopted resolution and that the county's action was intended to signal legislators and voters about support for placing the amendment on a ballot.