AGs Clarify That Federal Attempts to Eliminate Environmental Justice Efforts are Unlawful
Chicago – Attorney General Kwame Raoul, as part of a coalition of 13 attorneys general, issued guidance affirming the necessity and legality of environmental justice initiatives. The guidance reinforces that despite the Trump administration’s recent efforts to brand these critical activities as illegal, public and private entities can still lawfully engage in environmental justice work to ensure a healthy environment for all people to live, play, work, learn and worship.
“Efforts to advance environmental justice remain legal and essential to ensuring all communities have the opportunity to thrive,” Raoul said. “My office is committed to addressing environmental justice issues throughout Illinois, and I proudly join with my fellow attorneys general to support and defend this important work throughout the country.”
In their guidance, Raoul and the attorneys general acknowledge that evidence-based studies and lived experience demonstrate that communities of color, indigenous people and tribal nations, low-income, rural and unincorporated communities, people with disabilities, and non-English speaking communities routinely face disproportionate environmental and health burdens.
Examples of the significant barriers to their well-being faced by residents of these communities include lead poisoning and pollution-related asthma in children, the disproportionate presence of waste dumping and contaminated sites, excessive car and truck traffic, and greater exposure to the negative outcomes of extreme temperatures, flooding and wildfires. These challenges are exacerbated by climate change, which is causing environmental dangers that lead to greater instability, economic hardship and shortened life spans.
Environmental justice initiatives aim to overcome these disparities, developing solutions to persistent harms, and advancing public health, safety, well-being and prosperity across all communities.
The Trump administration has issued executive orders and memoranda attempting to undermine environmental justice, a longstanding federal policy. Under the Trump administration, the Environmental Protection Agency has terminated environmental and climate justice programs and grants, and the Department of Justice has rescinded prior memoranda that prioritized enforcing environmental laws in cases affecting overburdened communities.
The Trump administration has also called for legal challenges to state environmental justice and climate laws.
The coalition’s guidance is directed to state, tribal and local governments, nonprofit and charitable entities, businesses and neighborhood-based groups that are currently engaging in efforts to restore and protect the environment and public health. Raoul and the attorneys general clarify that the president cannot change or dismantle laws passed by Congress, nor can executive orders or agency memoranda change the protections afforded by the U.S. Constitution and other federal and state laws. The guidance notes that civil rights, environmental laws and the Constitution all support public and private efforts to advance environmental justice.
Attorney General Raoul is joined in issuing the guidance by the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Maryland, New York, , Rhode Island and Vermont.
