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| Dear Friend, |
| Community leaders across the United States, from Appalachia to the ports of Long Beach, California, and from the communities of Cancer Alley in Louisiana to Indigenous lands across the American West, have come toe-to-toe with polluting industries for decades to hold them accountable for poisoning our air, water, and lands. |
| One of those battles was recently won in the halls of Congress when the dirty “permitting side-deal,” aka the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2022, failed to make it into must-pass funding legislation, therefore safeguarding the health and well-being of our communities. |
| But environmental justice leaders never stopped fighting under immense political pressure, even with the odds stacked against them. Earthjustice supporters spoke up too. 20,399 advocates sent a letter to your Member of Congress demanding they reject this side-deal. Together, we committed to fight alongside our partners to stop a dirty deal that would mandate dirty fossil fuel projects like the Mountain Valley Pipeline and silence the voices of environmental justice communities. |
| However, this is not the end of the fight. We expect industry and Senator Manchin to bring this legislation up in a future must-pass bill. As they make their plan, we must recommit our opposition and make sure meaningful public engagement is a cornerstone of any permitting reform. There is a landmark environmental justice bill making its way through Congress that aims to address environmental injustices and hold polluting industries accountable: the Environmental Justice for All Act. |
| As congressional leaders work to rapidly construct the clean energy infrastructure of the future, we must not waste our time on false solutions that prioritize reckless development and exclude communities from the process. The Environmental Justice for All Act provides a blueprint for engaging communities from the start and developing projects in a better, responsible, and resilient way. |
| The time is now for Congress to support this inclusive, ambitious, and community-driven piece of legislation. Write to your member of Congress now. |
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Sincerely,
Raul Garcia
Legislative Director
Healthy Communities |
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| Photo Credits: Kids play soccer near the Phillips 66 refinery in Wilmington, Calif. (Hannah Benet for Earthjustice) |
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