JOHN,
Recently, wildfire smoke gave Michigan some of the worst air quality in the world.
The climate crisis is already wreaking havoc on our communities, and it’s threatening our right to breathe clean air.
We know that greenhouse gases—which are released when cutting down trees or burning fossil fuels—are the primary driver of climate change. That’s why for years I’ve worked to hold the fossil fuel industry accountable and pushed banks to stop funding fossil fuel projects and deforestation.
But the Trump administration is moving to gut all greenhouse gas regulations.
At the same time, the Trump administration is rolling back protections that we won to defend drinking water from forever chemicals (known as PFAS) that are dangerous to public health. This move will increase PFAS exposure in our communities, violating our human right to clean water.
Our government has a responsibility to protect people from contamination, pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions—and I will continue fighting for this to happen.
Can you sign the petition demanding Congress act to put people over polluters?
Despite clear scientific evidence, the administration is trying to remove the Environmental Protection Agency’s finding that greenhouse gases endanger human health. This “endangerment finding” is a foundational part of all policies related to greenhouse gases.
Climate scientist Michael Mann explained: “The importance of the endangerment finding can’t be overstated. It’s been the primary tool that we have had to actually regulate carbon emissions and meet our obligations under various global agreements to address the climate crisis.”1
With the president trying to overturn key environmental policies, it’s up to state governments and Congress to strengthen protections and defend our communities.
Congress must push back against climate denial and disinformation from fossil fuels and right-wing groups. We must set and strengthen standards for clean air and water, and hold corporate polluters accountable to following those standards.
We must also pass policies to secure environmental justice and end environmental racism, like my Cumulative Impacts Act, which will protect and empower residents of frontline communities who already experience corporate pollution.
This bill would stop corporations from concentrating their industrial pollution in Black and brown communities, which they’ve done for years.
Black Americans are 75% more likely to live near industrial polluting facilities than white people.2 Living in such heavily polluted areas has compounding harms for public health, leading to high rates of cancer, respiratory diseases, infant mortality, and more.
Having grown up in Detroit by the Marathon Oil Refinery and other corporate polluters, I know what it’s like to be in a frontline community treated as a dumping ground. We cannot let communities of color be poisoned or treated as sacrifice zones.
Will you add your name to demand Congress act now to protect people over polluters?
Thank you for taking action.
With you in the fight for a better future,
Rashida
1. Trump bids to scrap almost all pollution regulations – can anything stop this?
2. Tlaib introduces bill aimed at curtailing environmental racism
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