CJA Coalition Signs Letter Condemning White House Proposal to Revoke Key Environmental Safeguards, Warns of Harm to Vulnerable Communities and Environmental Justice
Washington, D.C. – The Climate Justice Alliance (CJA), in partnership with GreenLatinos and WeAct, has led a coalition of nearly 200 organizations in condemning the White House’s recent proposal to repeal all versions of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). These organizations have collectively signed a letter criticizing the Center for Environmental Quality (CEQ) for undermining these critical safeguards that benefit everyone in the face of powerful industry. Since the 1970s, NEPA has been a critical safeguard, providing protection and recourse for communities affected by pollution and harmful industrial practices.
“By undermining these foundational safeguards, CEQ’s decision would exacerbate environmental injustices, further entrench systemic inequities, and expose frontline communities to even greater harm through more unchecked pollution, more fossil fuel projects in EJ communities, and more corporate influence over public lands and resources. We call for the immediate reversal of this dangerous rollback to uphold the rights and well-being of those most impacted by environmental degradation,” the environmental and community-based organizations stated in the letter. (read the full letter here.)
NEPA is one of the most essential tools available to ensure that frontline communities, Tribal Nations and other low-income communities have a voice in decisions affecting their health, environment, and quality of life. Industry claims that NEPA reviews are a major cause of permitting delays, but this has been thoroughly examined and disproven in multiple studies.
“Removing the requirement under NEPA to assess the environmental, health, and social impacts of federal actions directly undermines the law’s original intent and makes it more difficult for communities to engage in decisions that affect them,” said —
KD Chavez, Executive Director of Climate Justice Alliance. “The proposed changes not only eliminate critical environmental justice considerations in NEPA analyses but also strip away CEQ’s long-standing regulations, eroding established legal standards and excluding the very communities NEPA was designed to protect.”
In addition to the removal of EPA EJ offices, the rescission of protections in executive orders, and cuts to funding, this attempt to gut NEPA will only exacerbate the degradation of our communities’ health, the exploitation of local resources, and the destruction of lands. The consequences are far-reaching, including:
- Silencing community voices in decision-making by reducing public participation
- Disproportionately harming vulnerable populations
- Undermining science-based decision-making
- Increasing the risk of inconsistent NEPA application
- Facilitating environmental racism
- Prioritizing corporate project sponsors over public interest
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