The New Yaear began with an enthusiastic email by constitutional lawyer David Boyd, he wrote to Speak to the Wild with news about a legal case in Pennsylvania that has broad implications for the work of environmentalists in Canada. He writes:

“In the spirit of starting the New Year with some good news, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania has shocked the legal world (and the oil and gas industry) with a powerful decision upholding citizens’ right to a healthy environment, which was added to that state’s constitution in 1970. Earlier court decisions had undermined the strength of the constitutional right. However the new decision, in a case filed by NGOs, local governments, and an MD, strikes down chunks of a recent state law passed to promote fracking (and limit local government’s regulatory powers) and does so in a comprehensive and compelling fashion.