Yesterday, in a majority opinion authored by Chief Justice John Roberts, the Supreme Court decided West Virginia v. EPA. The result is one of the most environmentally devastating decisions in decades that severely limits the federal government’s ability to regulate carbon emissions from power plants.

This comes just a few days after the Court took a fundamental right away from the people and overturned the long-settled precedent of Roe v. Wade. Coupled with repeated decisions to uphold voter suppression and gerrymandering while striking down voting rights and common sense limits on money in politics, enough is enough.

Friend — it’s past time to expand the United States Supreme Court.

Adding seats to the Supreme Court would allow President Biden to appoint new justices who will work for the people, not deep-pocketed polluters and their far-right allies. Following the news, there has been a groundswell of grassroots activism around the country — an outcry for change on the Court.

Today, we’re calling on all LCV members to submit a message to their lawmakers in Congress in support of expanding the Court. We need to raise pressure on this now, before the Court is able to release even more damaging decisions.

Tell Congress: Expand the Court. You have the authority. It’s past time to act. We’re aiming to submit 10,000 letters before midnight on Sunday.

There is plenty of precedent for expanding the Supreme Court. Our Constitution gives Congress the power to set the number of Justices, as it did in laws signed by George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and others. The time has come to do so again.

Without a deliberate rebalancing, the Supreme Court — with its justices who serve for life — is positioned to continue imposing an extremist agenda for a generation.

So much damage has already been done by this Court. But over the next year, it will consider cases that could narrow the EPA's authority under the Clean Water Act and limit the ability of universities to overcome structural racism. An expanded court could help reverse some of the recent damage — and also avert terrible decisions in the coming years.

We need Congress to act so that President Biden can appoint new justices. This is the most partisan Supreme Court in living memory — we cannot wait decades to correct it.

Send your letter: It's past time to #ExpandTheCourt. Congress must act now. DEADLINE: Sunday >>

Protections for our environment, our reproductive rights, our equality, and our democracy are only as strong as the judges who uphold them. We have to stand up for our rights to breathe clean air and drink clean water, have our votes counted, make our own health decisions, and more.

Thank you for speaking out today, Friend. We'll be in touch soon with more updates following the West Virginia v. EPA decision.

Onward,

Doug Lindner
Advocacy Director for Judiciary & Democracy
League of Conservation Voters