June 30, 2022
For Immediate Release
Media Contact: Katrina Hamann, katrina@michiganej.org
With the nation still reeling from the overturning of Roe v. Wade, a right-wing supermajority in the Supreme Court has dealt yet another devastating blow to low-income communities and communities of color in our country. Today, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of corporate polluters over people and the environment in West Virginia vs. EPA. This decision severely limits the EPA’s authority to regulate pollution from power plants and, consequently, limits its ability to fight the climate crisis.
MEJC condemns this ruling as a violation of our democracy, and an assault on the human rights and health of environmental justice communities in Michigan and around the nation. Our coalition calls on the Biden administration and Congress to immediately take the following actions:
Expand the Supreme Court through Congressional authority;
End the Senate filibuster to deliver on legislative action;
Pass a comprehensive reconciliation package to that centers climate and environmental justice investments and creates no harms in our communities;
Use Executive Action to stop all new fossil fuel projects, end fossil fuel leasing of federal lands, and declare a climate emergency;
Ensure robust accountability and implementation of Justice40 investments by impacted communities;
Ensure no federal investments advance harmful false solutions such us nuclear power, hydrogen, and carbon capture and storage technologies.
Jamesa Johnson-Greer, Executive Director of MEJC said. “No matter your race, your zip code, or what’s in your wallet, we all deserve pure air, clean water, and healthy neighborhoods. The Supreme Court’s decisions this June have made it abundantly clear: when conservative, pro-corporate actors get their hands on levers of power, our communities and our climate suffer. Our democracy and our planet are under threat. And the impacts of the Supreme Court’s decision today in West Virginia v. EPA will be felt by communities already overburdened with environmental and climate injustice. Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition remains committed to fighting for all the communities who will bear the brunt of these ill-made decisions. We will organize our local communities and to fight against the intersecting systems which pollute our air, oppress our voice, and threaten our future.“
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