Emergency Resolution Denouncing the Supreme Court of the United States Ruling in West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency
WHEREAS, on July 30, 2022, the Supreme Court of the United States rendered its devastating decision in West Virginia v. EPA, crippling the Environmental Protection Agency's attempts to curtail carbon pollution and deter the worst impacts of the climate crisis; and
WHEREAS, the Court's capricious ruling concluded that the EPA has no authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate carbon dioxide emitted from fossil fuel electricity generation plants; and
WHEREAS, this reckless finding erodes the most effective regulatory authority of the EPA to protect our environmental and climate-vulnerable communities while favoring the rich, powerful coal industry and political extremists; and
WHEREAS, the West Virginia v. EPA decision will further jeopardize the health and well-being of our national and global communities, already disproportionately impacted by greenhouse gas pollution, and impede a much-needed shift towards renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar- the cleanest, safest, most effective, efficient, and cost-effective way of combating exposures to fossil fuel pollution within the power sector that's primarily driving global warming; and
WHEREAS, under the Court's disastrous decision, the EPA will retain limited general authority under the Clean Air Act to control emissions of greenhouse gas pollutants and advance emissions standards to reduce levels of environmental and climate pollution from the power and transportation sectors, as well as oil and gas development. However, the ruling will make it significantly more difficult for the EPA to administer substantive standards to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from the largest source of energy pollution exacerbating climate change; and
WHEREAS, given the fact that the United States is historically the world's worst emitter of greenhouse gas pollution, the Supreme Court's reckless disregard for the climate crisis and human health will have a devastating impact on human health, sea level rise, flooding, droughts, wildfires, more frequent and intense storms, and mounting climate disasters in the U.S. and around the globe.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the NAACP denounces the irresponsible and ill-conceived ruling of the Supreme Court of the United States in the case of West Virginia v. EPA, as one that oversteps its bounds of authority into the affairs of a federal regulatory agency; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the NAACP calls upon the Biden Administration, the United States Congress, and the United States Environmental Protection Agency to use all constitutional and governance means available to protect our country, and from the destructive consequences of the United States Supreme Court decision in West Virginia v. EPA, in an effort to provide the much-needed protection of our people and planet from the escalating climate crisis, driven by greenhouse gas emissions; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the NAACP urges the Biden Administration, the U.S. Congress, EPA, and the U.S. Department of State to develop an aggressive, strategic path forward to ensure a fair and just transition towards safe, effective, carbon-free renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar- to safeguard our communities from the calamitous impacts of climate change and adhere to the warnings of global scientists and uphold the terms of the Paris Climate Agreement to keep global warming well-below 1.5C.