In anticipation of World Asthma Day, I connected with María Belén Power from GreenRoots, Andrea Nyamekye of Neighbor to Neighbor, and my CLF colleague Staci Rubin. The four of us spoke about air quality, public health, and what it means to live in an environmental justice community during a pandemic.
“At a time when our nation’s waters are under siege from polluters, we need more protections, not less,” said Heather Govern, Director of CLF’s Clean Air and Water Program. “This heinous new rule is another Trump Administration giveaway to industries at the expense of our environment, and it cannot go unchecked.”
“With the nation’s landmark clean water protections in peril, the Supreme Court made the right call today,” said Heather Govern, Director of CLF’s Clean Air and Water program. “The Trump Administration attempted to open a serious loophole in the Clean Water Act and was roundly rejected. This decision will prevent pollution and help repair the rivers, streams, and marine waters throughout New England that so many of us depend on.”
“A species that most people have never seen is harder to convince others to save,” says Dr Erica Fuller, a veterinarian and a lawyer with Conservation Law Foundation in Boston, Massachusetts. “If you saw one, you’d be struck by how majestic they are.”
“This decision confirms that even the federal government is not above the law,” said Erica Fuller, CLF Senior Attorney. “We must do whatever it takes to ensure right whales are here for future generations, and that starts with obeying the Endangered Species Act. The ruling provides an incentive for fishermen and scientists to forge a new path that protects right whales while also sustaining the lobster industry.”
“This decision confirms that even the federal government is not above the law,” said Erica Fuller, a senior attorney at the Boston-based Conservation Law Foundation, one of four groups that filed the lawsuit. “We must do whatever it takes to ensure right whales are here for future generations, and that starts with obeying the Endangered Species Act.”
UPDATE: In the midst of a global pandemic, the Trump administration has taken the final steps to roll-back Obama-era rules that clean up our air and lower the carbon pollution from cars and trucks – often hailed as the federal government’s most important effort to tackle the climate crisis.
“Rolling back critical public health protections in the midst of a pandemic is appalling,” said Emily Green, Senior Attorney at CLF. “The clean car standards are designed to protect our health while saving drivers money at the gas pump. This administration’s rejection of science and accountability knows no bounds, and we’ll continue to challenge this reckless rule change.”
Overfishing and inept management have driven Atlantic cod to the brink. Now climate change looms. Atlantic cod still have a chance at survival, but it’s not going to be easy.
“Polluters are going to be able to get out of compliance, cut corners, save money. And as long as they create the record, EPA is not going to enforce. And that’s going to lead to more pollution in our lungs, in our waters, and affecting the health of our communities.”
