Supreme Court Decision on Sackett vs. EPA Severely Weakens the Clean Water Act

Clean Air strongly condemns the 5-4 split decision from the US Supreme Court on Sackett vs EPA, which fundamentally weakens the Clean Water Act. The decision puts millions of acres of wetlands and many other water bodies under threat of pollution or destruction. This decision is a major step backwards for the protection that wetlands need during the extinction and climate crisis that we are in the midst of today. 

This continues a concerning trend in which the court’s conservative supermajority is ignoring robust scientific evidence and research to side with corporate polluters and developers, as well as  gut long standing protections. In 2022 we wrote a statement with similar sentiment on the decision of West Virginia vs. EPA, which weakened the Clean Air Act that we rely on to keep people in our community safe from deadly air pollution. Our people are wise enough to know that this case is not about an individual family’s property and was in fact pushed through with representation from the Pacific Legal Foundation, a pro-polluting astroturf industry organization which also backs other far right libertarian policies, such as rolling back affirmative action policies and tenant’s rights. We face this in our work daily when polluters bankroll large legal and PR firms to resist being held accountable. 

We recommend that folks educate themselves on this case by reading these articles from Earthjustice and Earther. We call on our federal elected leaders to rebalance the Supreme Court, which has clearly become partisan and continues to make decisions that disregard scientific evidence and are out of step with the desires and will of everyday working people in the United States. An immediate action we can all take is to join an organization like Clean Air that continues to fight for health and justice and to elevate the voice of poor and working class people. 

Become a member today here.