Former Sen. Kury remembered for...

SUNBURY — Former legislator Franklin Kury, who died last week, is remembered by environmental advocates as the champion of the Environmental Rights Amendment to the Pennsylvania Constitution.Kury, the author and lead advocate for the amendment, served as a Democrat in the state House of Representatives from 1966 to 1972, representing the 108th District, and in the state Senate from 1972 to 1980, representing the 27th District. He died Aug. 16 at age 89."It is sad to hear of Franklin Kury’s passing," John Zaktansky, the Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper and executive director of the Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association, said. "He was one of a few people from our region who really stepped up to make a lasting difference, not just locally but statewide and well beyond. It is really hard today to think of bipartisan support for anything, and yet during his time in the state’s House of Representatives in the late 1960s and early 1970s, he pulled together support from both sides of the aisle to create the Environmental Rights Amendment to our state’s constitution."The amendment declares a right to a clean environment by the people and makes the state government the trustee of public natural resources. The amendment was enacted on Earth Day 1970 and ratified by Pennsylvania’s voters a year later on May 18, 1971."Fifty-plus years later, we are still the only state in which citizens have a constitutional right to clean air, pure water and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the environment," Zaktansky said. "This means that our natural resources are, by law, owned collectively by all Pennsylvania citizens, not just now, but for the future. More than ever, that amendment is a critical tool for those trying to navigate everything from proposed data centers and massive factory farms to better understanding and controlling impacts of emerging contaminants such as microplastics, pharmaceuticals and PFAS (forever chemicals) in our waterways."He added, "Our river system and those who live along it owe a debt of gratitude to Mr. Kury for the vast improvements we’ve seen in the river and industry along it over the past 50 years as well as providing such vital framework to protect against future threats."Maya K. van Rossum, the founder of the Green Amendment For The Generations Movement and the Delaware Riverkeeper & Leader of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, had a professional relationship with Kury for the last 13 years, calling him “a man of immense vision, dedication, strength and incredible kindness.” She said he was proud of his role in the Green Amendment movement that followed."Whenever I asked him to speak with legislators in other states to help them understand why the Green Amendment pathway was so important, he was always quick to respond and oblige," van Rossum said. "And to each conversation he brought a dignity and clarity of vision that always persuaded legislators and others to join our movement. He is an amazing man who is leaving a historic legacy."Van Rossum said the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, in partnership with seven municipalities, secured a landmark legal victory in 2013 that breathed new legal life into Kury’s legacy achievement: the drafting and passage of Article 1, Section 27. More than 20 states have proposed Green Amendments, while Pennsylvania, New York and Montana have Green Amendments, which were inspired by the senator's efforts."While it took 42 years for us to secure the appropriate interpretation of Article 1 Section 27 so that it could start truly vindicating the environmental rights of all Pennsylvanians, that victory was able to happen because of Franklin Kury’s clarity of vision and legal prowess," van Rossum said. "He could see the importance of each of the elements included in the amendment, as well as its placement in the Declaration of Rights section of the constitution. The truth is, there are many, many environmental rights amendments in state constitutions nationwide — passed around the same time as Article 1 Section 27 — but they have proven themselves largely weak and feckless."It was Kury’s amendment that had all of the essential qualities necessary to transform environmental protection, which is seen today with the advancement of the Green Amendment movement that built upon Kury’s vision for constitutional change, she said."The immensity of the senator’s vision for environmental rights is still being explored and demonstrated," van Rossum said. "But our Green Amendment movement has, as its core and foundation, Senator Franklin Kury’s amazing dedication, intellect and legal vision for strength and change."Senator Kury wrote the first — the very first — Green Amendment in the nation. And by the time our Green Amendment For The Generations movement is through, we will have just such an amendment in every state across our nation and at the federal level. And it will all have been made possible by the clarity of vision he had all those years ago, way back in 1971."