Editorial: In eco-minded California, there’s still no constitutional right to clean air and water

California may be a leader in the fight against climate change, but the state is years, even decades, behind other states when it comes to granting environmental rights to its citizens.

While a handful of other state constitutions, including those of New York and Pennsylvania, declare the people’s rights to clean air, water and a healthy environment, California’s does not.

That could change as soon as November. Under a proposal moving through the Legislature, voters would decide...