SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
earthjustice
EPA Sets 'Landmark' Clean Water Rule—But Trump Victory Would Put It At Risk
The Biden-Harris administration's new rule mandating the replacement of lead pipes provides "yet another example of the stark difference between the two presidential candidates," an advocate said.
Oct 08, 2024
The Biden administration on Tuesday set a final rule requiring the replacement of nearly all of the nation's lead pipes within ten years, a clean drinking water initiative that drew praise from public health experts and advocacy groups.
The new rule, which The New York Times and The Washington Post both called "landmark," was brought forth by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and requires the replacement of an estimated 9.2 million lead service lines serving millions of people across the country. Lead is a neurotoxin that can cause long-term damage to the brain and nervous system, particularly to children.
The administration of former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, had "slowed the pace of lead service line replacements," according to Food & Water Watch, an advocacy group.
"We applaud the Biden-Harris administration for strengthening the rule to remove lead from our drinking water," Mary Grant, a campaign director at Food & Water Action, said in a statement. "These long-awaited improvements will replace the weak regulation adopted by Donald Trump, and in doing so, will protect millions of people from lasting harm from this dangerous neurotoxin."
Grant said the new rule highlighted the stakes of the upcoming presidential election, in which Trump faces Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee.
"Today's action is yet another example of the stark difference between the two presidential candidates," she added. "Only Vice President Kamala Harris is serious about the safety of our drinking water. A Trump reelection could reverse progress on safe water."
This is a historic victory for public health. Lead pipes have poisoned American drinking water for decades, affecting as many as two-thirds of children under 6 in cities like Chicago.
Clean water is a RIGHT, not a privilege. Thank you, @EPA @POTUS! 👏💧https://t.co/ZQyTt0mMI4
— Progressive Caucus (@USProgressives) October 8, 2024
Lead, prized for its durability, has been used in water pipes since Ancient Rome—the English word "plumbing" descends from the Latin word "plumbum," meaning lead.
Congress banned the construction of new lead pipes in the U.S. in 1986 and passed the Safe Drinking Water Act, which includes regulations on lead, in 1991.
However, phasing out the use of older pipes has gone very slowly, to the frustration of public health experts. There has been "no meaningful improvement in protecting communities" in three decades, until now, according to a statement from Earthjustice, an advocacy group.
"Lead contamination is a longstanding public health emergency, and the Biden-Harris administration's rule is a monumental step forward in addressing the urgent need for safe, clean drinking water," said Patrice Simms, Earthjustice's vice president of litigation for healthy communities.
People of color and on low incomes are disproportionately affected by lead contamination, which is often found in big cities. Chicago has more lead pipes than any other U.S. city.
Flint, Michigan—a majority Black city—faced a public health crisis caused by lead pipes starting in 2014. Then-President Barack Obama signed an emergency declaration and sent aid to the city in 2016. More than 100,000 residents were exposed to elevated lead levels.
Still, the federal government didn't move to tighten lead rules until November 2023, when the EPA issued a proposal to do so. The announcement of the final rule on Tuesday was accompanied by an outpouring of support—and relief.
"A game changer for kids and communities, EPA's finalized lead and copper rule improvements will ensure that we will never again see the preventable tragedy of a city, or a child, poisoned by their lead pipes," Mona Hanna, a pediatrician in Flint and a public health professor at Michigan State University whose research helped expose the crisis there, said in the EPA statement announcing the rule change.
Betsy Southerland, the former director of science and technology in the EPA's water division, also celebrated the agency's move, according to an Environmental Protection Network statement:
The American people have known for over 30 years that there is no safe level of lead and have waited too long for lead pipes to be replaced. Finally, the lead pipes that deliver water to over 9 million homes will be replaced before they damage the mental and physical development of another generation of children. Today is the first time there is an actual deadline for lead pipe replacement to happen and significant financial and technical assistance to get the job done.
The White House is counting on the initiative being popular, especially in swing states in the Midwest. President Joe Biden is scheduled to visit Wisconsin to "tout" the new policy, the Timesreported. The EPA's statement says it will "create good-paying local jobs."
Natalie Quillian, a White House deputy chief of staff, said that "all Americans, no matter where they come from, should have access to their most basic needs, including being able to turn on the tap and drink clean drinking water without fear," according to the Post.
The new rule, in addition to mandating the replacement of pipes, establishes a stricter standard for lead contamination, moving it from 15 parts per billion to 10 ppb and requiring public utilities to provide filters if that level is exceeded. Some advocates had called for a standard between 0 and 5 ppb.
Utilities are expected to challenge the new rule in court, as they've done with the EPA's regulations on "forever chemicals" in drinking water.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Federal Judge Gives Louisiana Polluters a 'Free Pass' to Harm Communities of Color
"Louisiana has given industrial polluters open license to poison Black and brown communities for generations," and the new ruling from a Trump-appointed judge will only magnify the problem, a campaigner said.
Aug 23, 2024
A right-wing federal judge in Louisiana on Thursday permanently blocked two federal agencies from enforcing civil rights legislation that could protect Black communities from disproportionate pollution in the state, drawing condemnation from environmental justice advocates.
The two-page ruling, issued by U.S. District Court Judge James Cain, who was appointed to the federal bench in 2019 by then-President Donald Trump, is a setback in the push for accountability for corporate polluters, most notably in "Cancer Alley," a roughly 85-mile stretch that runs along the Mississippi River from Baton Rouge to New Orleans.
Cancer Alley is home to a disproportionate number of poor and working-class Black people who have highly escalated risks of cancer thanks to the long line of petrochemical plants in the corridor. A recent study showed that the air there is far worse than previously realized.
"Louisiana has given industrial polluters open license to poison Black and brown communities for generations, only to now have one court give it a permanent free pass to abandon its responsibilities," Patrice Simms, a vice president at Earthjustice, said in a statement.
The ruling forbids the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Justice from enforcing "disparate-impact requirements" under Title VI the 1964 Civil Rights Act in the state of Louisiana. The ruling affects permitting for industrial projects and could, according to Earthjustice, even be applied to "basic services such as sewage, drinking water, and health services." Cain opted not to make the ruling effective nationwide.
The main events leading up to Thursday's decision began in January 2022, when Earthjustice filed a complaint to the EPA on behalf of St. John the Baptist Parish, a majority-Black community in the heart of Cancer Alley. The EPA then opened an investigation into whether Louisiana state agencies had failed to protect the parish from environmental health threats. The agency was preparing to negotiate reforms with the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality. This was part of a nationwide EPA effort to tackle environmental racism.
However, Louisiana, like other states, fired back. In May 2023, then-Attorney General Jeff Landry, who is now governor, filed a lawsuit—the same lawsuit Cain ultimately ruled on—against the EPA to block the investigation. The next month, the EPA dropped its investigation, disappointing parish residents and human rights groups. The Intercept later reported that the agency dropped the investigation because of fear the state's case would reach the U.S. Supreme Court.
Cain could then have dropped Louisiana's suit, but, in a move that may have been aimed at preventing future such investigations, he moved forward with it, issuing a 77-page temporary injunction in January that laid the groundwork for today's far briefer decision, which made the ruling permanent.
In the temporary injunction, Cain put forth ahistorical and power-blind arguments about race that are common in right-wing circles.
"To be sure, if a decision-maker has to consider race, to decide, it has indeed participated in racism," the judge wrote. "Pollution does not discriminate."
Earthjustice warned that though Cain's ruling applies only in Louisiana, "it may embolden other states to seek similar exceptions and create a chilling effect on civil rights enforcement by other federal agencies."
Keep ReadingShow Less
'Historic' Settlement With Youth Will Force Hawaiian Transit System to Speed Decarbonization
"I hope our case inspires youth to always use their voices to hold leaders accountable for the future they will inherit," said one plaintiff.
Jun 21, 2024
Days before a case brought by 13 young climate advocates in Hawaii was set to go to trial, the state's governor and Department of Transportation on Thursday announced an "unprecedented" settlement that will expedite the decarbonization of Hawaii's transit system—and formally "recognizes children's constitutional rights to a life-sustaining climate."
The plaintiffs in Navahine v. Hawaii Department of Transportationwere between the ages of 9 and 18 when they filed their case in 2022, alleging that the state government was violating their rights under the Hawaii Constitution by investing in fossil fuel-intensive infrastructure that would worsen the effects of the climate crisis.
The case is the first youth-led legal challenge addressing constitutional rights related to pollution from the transportation sector, and according to Earthjustice, which represented the plaintiffs along with Our Children's Trust, the settlement is the first agreement "of its kind, in which government defendants have decided to resolve a constitutional climate case in partnership with youth plaintiffs, committing to comprehensive changes" to reduce fossil fuel dependence and emissions.
Under the settlement, the Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDOT) agreed to "plan and implement transformative changes of Hawaii's transportation system to achieve the state's legally established goal of net-negative emissions by 2045," said Earthjustice.
Specific actions the HDOT agreed to take include:
- Establishing a Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plan within one year;
- Creating a lead unit and responsible positions within HDOT to coordinate the mission of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction throughout the agency; oversee climate change mitigation and adaptation for the highways program; and ensure public highways are upgraded to be accessible for all users, ages, and abilities;
- Establishing a volunteer youth council to advise on HDOT's mitigation and adaptation commitments in the years to come;
- Improving its transportation infrastructure budgeting process to prioritize reduction of GHG and vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and transparently analyze and disclose the GHG and VMT impacts of each project and the overall program; and
- Making immediate, ambitious investments in clean transportation infrastructure.
The department agreed to complete pedestrian, bicycle, and transit networks within five years, dedicating a minimum of $40 million to expanding the state's public electric vehicle charging stations by 2030.
Earthjustice credited HDOT Director Edwin Sniffen with taking "unprecedented leadership to negotiate a resolution and embrace the government's kuleana (responsibility) to lead the way on bold and broad climate action."
The Navahine youth plaintiffs, said Julia Olson, founder and chief legal counsel of Our Children's Trust, "activated the courts and inspired true democracy in action—all three branches of government committing to work together to do what needs to be done according to best available science, to safeguard their futures."
"Our courts are essential guardians of children's constitutional rights and empowered to protect the planet, but they rely on our collective engagement," said Olson. "Young people across the country and around the world will follow in [the plaintiffs'] footsteps, carrying the same values of care, defense, and love of the land to action."
The settlement was announced nearly a year after young climate advocates in Montana won another historic victory in a case arguing that the state had violated their constitutional rights by prioritizing fossil fuel projects.
Three federal judges who had been appointed by former President Donald Trump angered climate groups last month when they granted the Biden administration's request to dismiss Juliana v. United States, a case originally filed in 2015, which argues the U.S. government has violated the rights of children by continuing to support planet-heating fossil fuel extraction.
A judge in Hawaii last year dismissed the state's request to dismiss the Navahine case. Hawaii officials argued that state laws aimed at reducing carbon emissions were "aspirational" and could not be used in legal arguments claiming the state had violated children's rights.
"Transportation emissions are increasing and will increase at the rate we are going," Judge Jeffrey Crabtree of the O'ahu 1st Circuit Court said as he denied the state's request. "In other words, the alleged harms are not hypothetical or only in the future. They are current, ongoing, and getting worse."
Gov. Josh Green, a Democrat, echoed Crabtree's words on Thursday as he announced the settlement.
"We're addressing the impacts of climate change today, and needless to say, this is a priority because we know now that climate change is here," Green said. "It is not something that we're considering in an abstract way in the future."
Andrea Rogers, deputy director of U.S. strategy for Our Children's Trust, said the "historic agreement offers a holistic roadmap for states and countries to follow around the world."
The partnership between the plaintiffs and the state, said a plaintiff identified as Rylee Brooke K., "marks a pivotal step towards preserving Hawaii for future generations—one that will have a ripple effect on the world."
"Being heard and moving forward in unity with the state to combat climate change is incredibly gratifying, and empowering," said Rylee. "I hope our case inspires youth to always use their voices to hold leaders accountable for the future they will inherit."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular