Your right to know. Your right to protect.

Protecting Citizen Action

On November 2, 2004, California's public health and environment suffered a major blow with the passage of Proposition 64.  Prop. 64's "Limitations on Enforcement of Unfair Business Competition Law (UBCL)" changed the unfair competition law to effectively block any citizen action that didn't involve both a personal injury and financial and property loss.  That means actions which had been brought under the law involving the loss of clean air and water, clear-cutting of pristine forests and destruction of the coast can no longer be brought by private citizens.

Big business backers of the initiative - including the biggest oil and energy companies and the Phillip Morris tobacco company - raised over $16 million dollars to pass the initiative - outspending the many environmental, labor and consumer groups opposed to the initiative many times over. 

But polluters and their allies won't see an end to citizen action to protect children's health, clean up toxics in low-income communities, and preserve the coastline. Already activists and organizations across the state are strategizing about how to ensure the right to citizen action to protect the public health and environment. 

Act now

- Tell a friend about the importance of citizen action and personal enforcement of our public health and environmental laws. 

- Help distribute CLEEN's just released Citizen Action Report.

- Join CLEEN's campaign to strengthen the right of the public to protect their future.