Save the Environment - Expand the Supreme Court!
Petition to Congress:
The extremist Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Sackett v. EPA to limit the EPA’s ability to protect our waters is a serious threat to the environment. The ruling comes after last year’s West Virginia v EPA ruling that limited the EPA’s ability to keep our air clean and reduce greenhouse emissions. We are in a climate emergency, and we cannot allow this right-wing Supreme Court to further endanger the planet. We urge you to pass the Judiciary Act and restore balance to the court through expanding the number of justices.
The right-wing Supreme Court just voted to gut the Clean Water Act.
The Court’s decision last week in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will severely limit the EPA’s ability to protect our waters. This is a devastating decision at a time when our planet is already careening into climate catastrophe.1
For the sake of our health, environment, and planet, we cannot allow the current extremist Court to continue. Congress must take action and pass the Judiciary Act and restore balance to the court through expanding the number of justices.
The Clean Water Act was passed in 1972 with the clear purpose of preventing the dumping of industrial pollution in our waters. The law was enormously successful: previously toxic waterfronts were made safe, and for the first time in centuries it became safe to fish and swim waters across the country.2
The EPA’s ability to broadly regulate waterways under the Clean Water Act had been repeatedly upheld by the courts for decades. Last week’s decision is yet another shocking break with well-established precedent from this right-wing, activist Supreme Court.
The decision is part of a pattern of the Court’s total disregard for public health and the future of our planet. Just last year, the Court’s decision in West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency substantially limited the EPA’s ability to regulate fossil fuel emissions. Similar decisions are sure to follow in the future. While scientists are blaring the alarm on the impending climate catastrophe, this right-wing Court appears determined to increase emissions and pollution.2
Congress needs to rein in the activist Supreme Court. Among other measures, Congress must restore balance to the Court by passing the Judiciary Act and increasing the number of justices.
Sources:
- NPR, "The Supreme Court has narrowed the scope of the Clean Water Act,” May 25, 2023.
- Washington Post, "The Supreme Court just gutted the Clean Water Act. It could be devastating.,” May 25, 2023.