Statement on Supreme Court decision limiting EPA’s oversight of emissions
Release Date: 07-13-2022

Portland, Ore. – July 13, 2022 – In the face of the Supreme Court decision to restrict the ability of the Environmental Protection Agency to oversee power plant emissions, Ecotrust stands in solidarity with climate justice advocates and frontline communities in the fight for meaningful action against the impacts of climate change.

The Supreme Court ruling is a blow to climate action at a critical juncture in the global climate crisis. However, here in our home region, we stand alongside hundreds of partners who are committed to addressing climate change, and we are encouraged by regional leaders who are steadfast in their drive toward climate justice, resilience, and adaptation. 

From climate-smart forestry, tribal agroforestry, and green workforce development, to land-mapping tools, salmon restoration strategies, and high-impact research, we are collaborating with partners to build practices that advance climate resilience, prevent and mitigate the effects of climate change, and build economic prosperity. Among others, our climate-smart projects include supporting the development of kelp farming in Southeast Alaska; measuring embodied carbon in the built environment and bolstering markets for climate-smart wood; and convening community activists and entrepreneurs committed to just climate response in the food system. We know we can meet the challenges brought by a changing climate, and that the solutions must be built in community with those most impacted.

This ruling comes amid a flurry of Supreme Court activity that is setting a destructive course for our country, denying the reproductive freedom, bodily autonomy and human rights of women, girls, transgender, gender-nonconforming, and queer people; undermining the sovereignty and federal trust obligations for Native American Tribes; eroding policies that keep our communities safe from gun violence and more. Amid these compounding injustices, we stand firm in the hope and possibility of radical, practical change toward a region where we can all thrive, together.

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About Ecotrust

Ecotrust creates and accelerates triple-bottom-line innovations to benefit our region and inspire the world. Our work is rooted the region from California to Alaska that holds productive lands and determined people. On the farm, at the coast, in the forest, and across our cities, we work in partnership towards an equitable, prosperous, climate-smart future. We recognize the legacy of colonialism and the deep inequities of this place, and we believe that radical, practical change is possible and necessary. Since 1991, we have created durable change and sparked ideas across the globe. Join us at ecotrust.org