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A California Green New Deal organizer hypes up a crowd through a megaphone
A California Green New Deal organizer hypes up a crowd through a megaphone

Green New Deal Network Called for Climate Action in Wake of Supreme Court WV v. EPA Ruling in Nationwide Rallies

Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — July 7, 2022
Contact: Kayla Gaines, Green New Deal Network, kgaines@greennewdealnetwork.org, 202-709-2762

Over July 4th Weekend, Green New Deal Network Called for Climate Action in Wake of Supreme Court WV v. EPA Ruling in Nationwide Rallies

Activists in Pennsylvania, Florida, Illinois, Georgia, and Arizona protested the GOP-backed SCOTUS anti-climate ruling and called on Democrats to take bold steps to combat climate crisis 

Washington, D.C. – After the Supreme Court ruled in favor of corporate polluters and limited the EPA’s ability to regulate harmful power plants, the Green New Deal Network (GNDN) led actions across multiple states over the Fourth of July weekend calling on the Biden administration and Congress to take bold, meaningful action on the climate crisis.

Local organizers and activists in Pennsylvania, Florida, Illinois, Georgia and Arizona rallied together to protest the Republican Party’s antidemocratic tactic of stacking the Supreme Court with authoritarian, pro-corporate justices, and to call on leaders in the Democratic Party to take the necessary steps in order to protect our planet.

“The Supreme Court and right wing extremists are hijacking our freedoms and ripping away the safety nets that have been in place for half a century to protect our public health. This precedent allows toxins to further pollute our communities and worsen irreparable harms for children and families in our state and across the country,” stated Angelica Zamora, AZ Green New Deal Network Political Manager. “It is time for the President and Congress to use their authority to invest in the security of the American people and halt the dangerous political agenda being pushed by fossil fuel corporate interests.”

“The Supreme Court ruling limiting the Clean Air Act and regulatory power of the Environmental Protection Agency is a damaging environmental injustice. With this ruling, six un-elected justices placed profits over people and blatantly used their office for their own self-interests,” said Wan Smith, Organizing Director at GCV Education Fund. “We demand that our representatives in the federal government stand against barriers to progress and safety. In Georgia, we made our votes count, and it is past time for our elected officials to get off of the sidelines and take action for the security and well-being of our communities.”

“It is imperative that our communities discuss the importance of climate action and mobilize to fight against the unraveling of federal climate policies that have checked corporate pollution for decades,” stated Melanie Meade, Climate Fellow at the Black Appalachian Coalition. “If we can’t rely on the Supreme Court to uphold our legal rights and guardrail our safety and public health, then we must demand our electeds in Congress to use their power to expand the court to ensure a fair judicial branch and pass clean energy policies for the future of our planet and children.”

“Over this July 4th weekend, we spoke to so many people who were deeply angry with the Court’s decision,” said David Gibson, Organizing Director at Peacehome Campaigns. “This ruling is nothing less than corporate-backed court appointees doing their corporate backers’ bidding.”

GNDN hosted a press call last Thursday in reaction to the WV v. EPA decision, joined by U.S. Senator Ed Markey, D-MA, U.S. Representative Jamaal Bowman, D-NY-16, U.S. Climate Action Network, Sunrise Movement, Indivisible, and Climate Justice Alliance.

A recording of last week’s press call is available here.

In response to the conservative hijacking of the Supreme Court and the unelected Justices’ assault on our climate, health, democracy, and human rights, GNDN is demanding that our elected leaders take the following actions:

  • Pass the reconciliation package in Congress and invest in climate, care, jobs and justice;

  • Use remaining authority of the EPA to limit greenhouse gasses at the source under Section 111 and more broadly through other Clean Air Act provisions;

  • Establish new, stronger EPA standards to reduce carbon and toxic pollution, invoke the Defense Production Act (DPA) to speed the production of renewable energy technologies, stop new fossil fuel projects, and declare a climate emergency;

  • Activate Congressional authority to expand the Supreme Court through the Judiciary Act of 2021.

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About the Green New Deal Network

The Green New Deal Network is a nationwide network of organizations committed to transforming our politics and economy with policies that address the climate crisis, that create good, union jobs, and that repair past harm and advance justice. The Network includes coalitions in 25 states, as well as a coordinating team of 15 national organizations: Center for Popular Democracy, Climate Justice Alliance, Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, Greenpeace, Indigenous Environmental Network, Indivisible, Movement for Black Lives, MoveOn, People’s Action, Right To The City Alliance, Service Employees International Union, Sierra Club, Sunrise Movement, US Climate Action Network, and the Working Families Party.