EarthJustice

In this issue: Fighting for Hawai‘i’s future, what the biggest climate spending bill has achieved this year, announcing a new national monument, stories from the frontlines of coal ash, and more. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

AUGUST NEWSLETTER

Youth plaintiffs and supporters hold up signs after the Navahine vs the Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation court hearing in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi on January 26th 2023. (Elyse Butler for Earthjustice)

How Hawaiian youth advocates are fighting for Hawaiʻi’s future

As the climate crisis threatens their land, food, and traditions, 14 youth advocates are taking a key Hawaiian agency to court to spur climate action and defend their constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment.

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In this aerial view, turbines stand in a row along the top of Backbone Mountain on August 22, 2022 in Oakland, Maryland. The 70-megawatt wind farm runs along eight miles of the mountain ridge and consists of 28 Clipper 2.5 MW Liberty Turbines, each one 415-feet tall. (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)

What the biggest climate spending bill has achieved this year

One year after the Inflation Reduction Act became law, over 170,600 clean energy jobs have been announced so far and the cost of wind and solar has decreased by 54% and 37% respectively, lower now than coal, oil, and methane gas. If we build on the momentum of this once-in-a-generation climate solutions investment bill, a future that averts the worse effects of the climate crisis is within reach.

The Kaibab National Forest, just south of the Grand Canyon National Park. (Wirestock / Getty Images)

Announcing a new national monument

Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon has been designated a national monument by the Biden administration. This means that nearly a million acres of land next to the Grand Canyon are now off-limits from uranium mining and other industrial threats. Designations like this are key to protecting our most beloved, biodiverse, & culturally important places.

A panel of EPA officials listen as members of the public give testimony at the hearing. (Jamie Kelter Davis for Earthjustice)

Stories from the frontlines of coal ash

After years of litigation and advocacy, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed regulations to address dangerous gaps in safeguards from toxic coal ash waste. By law, before government regulations are adopted or changed, agencies must ask the public to weigh in. Here are some of the stories that the EPA heard at their in-person public hearing on June 2023, in Chicago, where dozens of people spoke their comments directly to the EPA on the proposed coal ash regulations.

Wildfires driven by extreme weather have inflicted terrible losses in the Hawaiian islands. The most destructive fire swept through Maui’s town of Lahaina, becoming the deadliest fire in the United States in over a century. Earthjustice is in solidarity with our clients, partners, friends, and family in Hawaiʻi as emergency workers continue to search for survivors and assess the damage from this disaster.

WAYS TO SUPPORT

Lead-based paint disintegrates over time and contaminates dust throughout homes or schools; lead in soil around these buildings also leads to children’s exposure. (M.R. / CC BY-ND 2.0)

This new environmental rule would help protect kids from lead dust

The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a rule that would deem any amount of lead dust found in schools, daycares, and homes to be a “lead hazard.” And that’s good news because exposure to any level of lead is hazardous.

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Photo Credits (top to bottom):
Elyse Butler for Earthjustice, Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images, Wirestock / Getty Images, Jamie Kelter Davis for Earthjustice, M.R. / CC BY-ND 2.0