The Alliance for Appalachia joined 290 groups in a letter urging President Biden and Congressional leaders to take action and accelerate renewable energy, address electric transmission challenges, and advance environmental justice. This is particularly timely as Congress is in negotiations over the Debt Ceiling. See the full press release and letter from our partners.
The letter implores Congress to expand community engagement and protect environmental justice by taking two actions. First, Congress should pass the A. Donald McEachin Environmental Justice for All Act, which ensures that cumulative impacts are fully considered in all decision making. Second, Congress should require that federal agencies receive free, prior and informed consent through meaningful consultation with Tribal governments and Tribal community members before making any decisions.
In our last blog post, we celebrated the reintroduction of the A. Donald McEachin Environmental Justice for All Act– “The People’s Bill.” We discussed how this bill addresses the impacts of the exploitative fossil fuel industry and gives a voice to frontline communities. We also shared a sample call script and social media posts so you can ask your representatives to pass the bill. We also stressed the importance of Environmental Justice for All as we’re witnessing repeated attacks on the National Environmental Policy Act (aka NEPA), a fundamental safeguard through which communities have a say in federally funded and permitted projects affecting environmental and public health.
NEPA is about the public’s right to know, the public’s right to redress, and the public’s right to be at the table as decisions are made on how things will affect their communities and their families. – Rep. Raul Grijalva.
There is a lot of money on the table right now. Between the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the federal government has allocated historic amounts of funding for community development, energy transition projects, utility improvements, and even the cleanup of abandoned coal mines.
But beware! Polluting industries also want this money and use phrases like “permitting reform” and “streamlining the permitting process” to attack NEPA. Senator Manchin has again introduced a bill under the guise of “permitting reform” that would effectively undermine public input processes by shortening timelines, limiting page numbers of assessments, minimizing transparency requirements, and imposing unreasonable time limits for a complete review of environmental impact statements and public comments.
We joined nearly 300 other environmental justice leaders and organizations calling on the Biden Administration to reject Manchin’s Dirty Deal. As Congress negotiates over the Debt Ceiling, we must clarify that our frontline communities are not bargaining chips. Don’t make compromises that sacrifice our communities!
Take action with Appalachian Voices, and share this post from our partners at the Climate Justice Alliance.
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