New Administration’s Attack on Environmental Justice Begins to Take Effect
On Tuesday, March 25 2025, Tri-Valley CAREs joined allies in urgent action against the federal government’s escalating attacks on environmental justice. The rally, held in response to sweeping deregulation efforts, gathered community members, advocates, and organizers in defense of environmental protections and frontline communities. Photos and full coverage of the action are available here.
The new administration has launched an all-out attack on federal environmental protections. In what the EPA itself has called the “biggest deregulatory action in U.S. history,” 31 major environmental rules are being rolled back. These include regulations designed to limit air pollution, curb emissions from power plants, and protect water quality — rules that have been fought for over decades by impacted communities. (More on that here.)
But the damage doesn’t stop at regulatory rollbacks. Perhaps more devastating is what’s happening behind the scenes: a series of executive orders issued by the administration have explicitly targeted and dismantled federal environmental justice programs. These orders weaken accountability, eliminate key equity mandates, and strip away requirements for Environmental Justice (EJ) analysis under federal law. One particularly damaging order removes EJ considerations from the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)—a foundational tool that mandates environmental impact reviews for major federal projects. A summary of the Executive Orders can be found here.
The consequences are already unfolding. Upcoming NEPA reviews relating to major nuclear weapons development projects—including the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for enhanced plutonium utilization at Livermore Lab and the separate Programmatic EIS for nationwide plutonium pit production—will no longer be required to analyze disproportionate impacts on low-income communities and communities of color. These are precisely the types of high-risk projects where cumulative and intergenerational harm must be front and center. TVC has previously collaborated on litigation around these issues, and we know that community-centered analysis is not optional—it is essential. These are the kinds of communities — often Indigenous, Black, brown, and working-class — who have already borne the brunt of environmental degradation and militarization for generations. They have also systematically been left out of decision-making at the sites they live near. Ignoring cumulative harm doesn’t make it disappear — it just ensures that accountability is erased.
Now more than ever, it’s critical to stand by the Principles of Environmental Justice, first drafted in 1991 by the National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit. These principles affirm the rights of all people to clean air, water, land, and a safe future. We urge readers to revisit them here and commit to upholding them in the face of these dangerous rollbacks.
Tri-Valley CAREs remains committed to fighting for a future where environmental justice is not only protected but expanded. We’ll be monitoring NEPA-related developments closely — including the plutonium pit SEIS — and continuing to build power with communities most affected.