See below for reactions from Representativesa Don Beyer (D-VA08), Gerry Connolly (D-VA11) and Jennifer Wexton (D-VA10) to this morning’s “outrageous” decision by the far-right/illegitimate U.S. Supreme Court, which is “out of control, laying waste to public health and safety protections.” As Rep. Beyer said, the “right-wing majority is hellbent on imposing its reactionary dogma on an unwilling nation, regardless of how many people get hurt.” And as Rep. Wexton put it, “This will have devastating consequences for the federal government’s ability to keep people safe from polluted air & water and protect future generations from climate change. The extreme conservative majority on this Court sided with the fossil fuel industry over public health.” Horrible.
Beyer Statement On Supreme Court Ruling In West Virginia V. EPA
June 30, 2022 (Washington, D.C.) – Rep. Don Beyer, co-chair of the Safe Climate Caucus and author of several climate provisions in the House-passed Build Back Better Act, today issued the following statement on the Supreme Court’s ruling limiting the authority of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to restrict greenhouse gas emissions:
“The Supreme Court is out of control, laying waste to public health and safety protections. From gun safety in Bruen to women’s health in Dobbs to today’s ruling striking down climate protections, the Court’s right-wing majority is hellbent on imposing its reactionary dogma on an unwilling nation, regardless of how many people get hurt.
“As Justice Kagan wrote in her dissent, ‘the Court strips the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of the power Congress gave it to respond to “the most pressing environmental challenge of our time.”’ The Court failed all of us today, and it is up to Congress to supply the remedy. I continue to urge my colleagues to pass strong, comprehensive legislation to address climate change with all possible haste. So much depends upon Congress taking bold action in this moment.
“Meanwhile, the conservative Court majority’s naked judicial activism, their disregard for the will of the people’s elected representatives to respond to one of our society’s most pressing needs, and their contempt for the Court’s own precedents make it clear that the U.S. Supreme Court is a broken institution. The Court must be reformed, and I cosponsored and coauthored legislation, including the Judiciary Act and the Supreme Court Term Limits Act to achieve that end. I will continue pressing my colleagues to take urgent action to solve this problem.”
The Supreme Court has decided that the Clean Air Act does not, in fact, allow the government to facilitate — wait for it — clean air.
This is outrageous on its face. https://t.co/4JO6C1mV1G
— Rep. Gerry Connolly (@GerryConnolly) June 30, 2022
This will have devastating consequences for the federal government’s ability to keep people safe from polluted air & water and protect future generations from climate change.
The extreme conservative majority on this Court sided with the fossil fuel industry over public health. https://t.co/8ub2qt94TH
— Rep. Jennifer Wexton (@RepWexton) June 30, 2022
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