WASHINGTON (July 5, 2022) – Last week, The Supreme Court issued its opinion in West Virginia v. EPA and sharply curbed the EPA’s ability to limit greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.
Members of the Equitable and Just National Climate Platform (EJNCP), a coalition of environmental justice and national environmental groups, released the following statement regarding the decision.
“The extremist Supreme Court majority has limited the EPA’s authority to regulate climate pollution from power plants – helping the fossil fuel industries polluting our communities.”
“The Court’s decision curtails the EPA’s ability to do its job to protect the health of our communities and the environment by cutting planet-warming carbon pollution from power plants. This is a blow to US and global efforts to address climate change which is jeopardizing the survival and wellbeing of all life on earth. Its effects will not be felt equally by all. This decision will limit the country’s ability to fight climate change and will impact communities of color and low-income communities. These communities are already on the frontlines of polluting industries, and will continue to bear the brunt of additional pollution from power plants. They are also already experiencing the worst impacts from climate change, including dangerously high temperatures, drought, rising seas, deadly wildfires, torrential rainfalls and devastating hurricanes.”
“Now more than ever we need the Senate to immediately pass a comprehensive reconciliation package that includes substantial investments in environmental justice and climate action. In addition, the Biden administration and its EPA must be bold in using its remaining authority to set stringent protections against pollution from fossil fuel power plants. They must specifically address the cumulative and devastating health impacts of pollution and other stressors in communities of color and low-income areas.”
EJNCP Members signed on to the statement:
Center for American Progress
Center for Earth, Energy and Democracy
Center for the Urban Environment of the John S. Watson Institute for Urban Policy and Research, Kean University
Deep South Center for Environmental Justice
Earthjustice
East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice
Environmental Justice Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform
Green Door Initiative
Harambee House – Citizens for Environmental Justice
League of Conservation Voters
Los Jardines Institute
Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition
Midwest Environmental Justice Network
New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance
ReGenesis Project
Sierra Club
Tishman Environmental and Design Center at the New School
Union of Concerned Scientists
The Equitable & Just National Climate Platform launched on July 17, 2019. In 2019, signatories to the platform achieved consensus on a historic plan calling for national climate action that confronts racial, economic, and environmental injustice as it enacts deep cuts in climate pollution and accelerates a pollution-free energy future that benefits all communities. Visit https://ajustclimate.org/ for more information about the Equitable and Just National Climate Platform, including the full list of signatories. Please contact Jake Thompson at jthompson@nrdc.org or Anahí Naranjo at anaranjo@ceed.org if you have any additional questions.
