Washington, D.C. – Last night, we got word that the dirty deal struck by Democratic leadership with Senator Joe Manchin would not stand in their most recent attempt to attach it to must pass legislation through the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
This is an Environmental Justice movement victory! Thanks to the tireless organizing of frontline communities, strategic campaigns waged by the environmental justice movement and allies, and round the clock work with allied legislators, we have beaten back this dirty deal and killed it for the second time this year!
“Thanks to the hard-fought persistence and vocal opposition of environmental justice communities all across the country, the #DirtyDeal has finally been laid to rest.” tweeted Natural Resources Committee Chair Representative Raul Grijalva late last night. You can read his full statement here. We applaud legislators for listening to the voices of environmental justice leaders and drawing the line to stop this deal. We hope they will continue to stand with us and work to strengthen, not weaken bedrock laws like the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
“We beat this dirty deal back twice now. We will continue to monitor and hold our elected officials accountable and remind them that this dirty deal is no deal for environmental justice communities. We need to follow frontline communities’ solutions to fast track a Just Transition, not a dirty one.” said Juan Jhong-Chung, Climate Justice Director at the Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition and Co-Chair of CJA’s Policy work group.
Last week, CJA members joined environmental justice organizations and allies in Washington, D.C. to make their position clear; this week thousands across the country participated in virtual meetings and calls with their members of Congress to ensure that this dirty deal, which would have sacrificed frontline communities again, was not tied to must pass legislation. Under Manchin’s dirty deal the foundational protections afforded communities under NEPA and other bedrock protections like the Clean Water Act, that ensure a pathway for community input and recourse against toxic and polluting industries, would have been stripped away and gutted.
We will continue to be vigilant and call on House Speaker Pelosi and Senator Schumer to stop any and all future attempts to push this dirty deal through as we celebrate the tremendous power of grassroots organizing in our communities!
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