Certain members of Congress are trying to sneak through a dirty deal to undo environmental protections by trading away vital safeguards in exchange for an agreement to raise the debt ceiling and allow our country to pay its bills. If successful, it could roll back or weaken our most important environmental laws, such as the Clean Water Act (CWA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and eliminate key protections that communities have relied on for decades to protect themselves from irresponsible polluters.
The negotiations around these issues are happening now and are expected to be resolved at any moment.
We must call on President Biden to emphatically reject attempts to use the debt ceiling crisis as a opportunistic wedge to gut bedrock environmental laws, rubber stamp dirty fossil fuel, mining, and nuclear infrastructure, and silence the voices of communities who’ve been fighting to protect their health and neighborhoods from polluting projects for years.
The stakes could not be higher, especially for already-vulnerable communities across the country. If the permitting scheme under consideration is successfully attached to debt ceiling negotiations, it could mean greater exposure to oil spills, gas leaks, air pollution, water pollution, and even increased risks of premature death.
It is possible for America to ensure its debts are honored without locking in dirty energy projects and sacrificing the health of our communities and planet.
