May 25, 2023

Washington, DC--Earlier today, the Supreme Court made a decision in the Sackett v. EPA case that narrows the scope of the Clean Water Act by eliminating protections for wetlands, except in very limited circumstances.

The Court has embraced the extreme demands of big polluters, and has dramatically narrowed the scope of the Clean Water Act, undoing protections that have safeguarded our waters for over 50 years. This places our communities, public health, and local ecosystems in danger – especially those most vulnerable to pollution and intensifying climate disasters. Congress and state officials across the country need to act fast to protect water bodies that our nation relies on for drinking, fishing, and fueling local economies. 

Here is summary of Black Millennials 4 Flint’s opinion in response to the recent ruling:

1. Everyone should be troubled by this Supreme Court ruling. This decision is a giveaway to big
   polluters and extreme anti-regulatory organizations in their effort to strip the
   Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to protect our health and clean up our waters.
   Everyday people did not ask for this rollback – to the contrary, more than three in four
   people in this country support strong federal protections for our waters.
2. The Court has failed the most vulnerable among us – namely indigenous communities,
   communities of color, and those most vulnerable to pollution, and facing intensifying
   climate disasters.
3. We need every tool in the toolbox to stop big polluters from indiscriminately bulldozing our
   wetlands and dumping waste into our streams. While today’s ruling damages our nation’s
   bedrock clean water law, it’s essential we take full advantage of tools that remain to protect
   the waterways our families and communities rely on for drinking, swimming, fishing, fueling
   local economies, and more.
4. The Environmental Protection Agency must act to protect streams, wetlands, and other
   waterways to the broadest extent permitted by the Court’s decision, as soon as possible.
5. Our coalition of clean water advocates, families, scientific experts, frontline communities, and public health professionals will continue to fight back against the attempts of big polluters to gut the Clean Water Act and block the EPA from protecting our communities.

Consider downloading and sharing this social media kit HERE to spread more awareness about the Supreme Court’s disappointing decision.