Indigenous and Environmental Justice Groups Warn the Rollback Would Strip Communities of Legal Recourse and Critical Safeguards
Contact:
Climate Justice Alliance: [email protected]
WE ACT for Environmental Justice: [email protected]
GreenLatinos: [email protected]
Washington, D.C. – Yesterday evening, Climate Justice Alliance, GreenLatinos, Indigenous Environmental Network, and WE ACT for Environmental Justice submitted a formal comment letter to the Department of Energy (DOE) strongly opposing its proposed rollback of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) rule.
They were joined by 89 signatories from environmental justice, Indigenous, and community organizations who also endorsed the letter, asserting that the move “jeopardizes essential environmental protections, curtails public participation, and undermines transparency, cornerstones that communities across the country rely on to safeguard their health, environment, and well-being.”
The proposed rollback threatens to dismantle NEPA—widely known as “The People’s Law”—which ensures environmental and cultural protections through a transparent, science-based process. Weakening NEPA would strip communities of the ability to challenge harmful industrial projects that pollute air and water, accelerate climate change, and violate Tribal sovereignty.
NEPA acts as the legal thread connecting foundational public health and environmental protection laws like the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the National Historic Preservation Act. Undermining it would erode critical environmental protections and public oversight, especially for frontline, Indigenous, and environmental justice communities.
“This Administration has set no guardrails for big business and polluters. DOE’s proposed rollback paves the way for more extraction, more emissions, and more environmental harm–compounding the public health crisis and accelerating land grabs from frontline, Indigenous, and environmental justice communities,” said KD Chavez, Executive Director of Climate Justice Alliance. “NEPA does not operate in a vacuum—it’s the legal thread that binds together our most critical environmental and cultural protection laws. Gutting it signals a dangerous disregard for public health, Tribal rights, and the future of our planet.”
According to Tom BK Goldtooth, Executive Director of the Indigenous Environmental Network, “By ensuring the implementation procedures of NEPA are effectively null and void, the DOE is trampling on Tribal sovereignty and well-accepted agreements such as free, prior and informed consent with Tribal nations. Without any public input or oversight, our people will have no recourse against dirty industry and powerful interests that only look to feed their bottom line. This is a disaster in the making and must be reversed.”
“DOE’s rule guts public protections and shuts out frontline communities from decisions that impact their health. Replacing enforceable NEPA safeguards with vague guidance puts polluters first and justice last. Communities already burdened by pollution deserve stronger protections, not fewer. We need transparency, accountability, and a real voice for our communities. Not more loopholes,” stated Meisei Gonzalez, Climate Justice & Clean Air Advocate for GreenLatinos.
“NEPA is one of the few tools our communities have to challenge harmful projects that threaten our health and environment. For decades, Indigenous, low-income communities, and communities of color have borne the brunt of toxic pollution from energy infrastructure that poison their air, water, and land, costing lives and futures. Gutting NEPA undermines meaningful public participation, silences frontline voices, and deepens sacrifice zones. As environmental protections are stripped away, NEPA must be protected and strengthened to uphold health, justice, and democracy,” shared Anastasia Gordon, Director of Federal Policy, WE ACT for Environmental Justice.
The rollback could lead to an increase in large-scale energy infrastructure projects without proper environmental review or community consultation, resulting in irreversible damage to ecosystems and sacred lands. As natural resources continue to deplete and the climate crisis intensifies, stripping away these protections is both reckless and unjust.
In their letter, the coalition urges the Department of Energy to:
- Reinstate all NEPA implementation procedures within the Code of Federal Regulations, where they are subject to public rulemaking, transparency, and legal enforcement;
- Reverse the reclassification of previously reviewed actions to ensure no energy-related activities are excluded from NEPA solely at the agency’s discretion;
- Restore NEPA applicability to Presidential permit processes to protect communities impacted by international energy infrastructure.
- Meet the legal and ethical responsibility of ensuring that federally approved projects:
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- Do not bypass environmental safeguards;
- Do not marginalize Tribal Nations and frontline communities;
- Are evaluated through a public, science-based, and just process.
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Click here to read the full NEPA Comment Letter.
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About Climate Justice Alliance
CJA is a growing member-based organization of nearly 100 urban and rural frontline and tribal communities, organizations, and supporting networks working to build a Just Transition away from the extractive economy and toward a more regenerative one. Visit our website at climatejusticealliance.org and follow us on Facebook, X, Instagram, and Bluesky.
About GreenLatinos
GreenLatinos is an active comunidad of Latino/a/e leaders, emboldened by the power and wisdom of our culture, united to demand equity and dismantle racism, resourced to win our environmental, conservation, and climate justice battles, and driven to secure our political, economic, cultural, and environmental liberation.
About Indigenous Environmental Network
IEN is an alliance of Indigenous Peoples whose shared mission is to Protect the Sacredness of Earth Mother from contamination & exploitation by Respecting and Adhering to Indigenous Knowledge and Natural Law.
About WE ACT for Environmental Justice
WE ACT for Environmental Justice is a Northern Manhattan-based, membership-driven organization whose mission is to build healthy communities by ensuring that people of color and/or low-income residents are meaningfully included in the development of sound and fair environmental health and protection policies and practices. WE ACT has offices in New York and Washington, D.C. Visit us at weact.org and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram.
