We are proud to join @WEACT4EJ and over 90 organizations calling on Congress to increase funding levels for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) including environmental justice programs, in fiscal year 2026. After catastrophic and unlawful environmental justice funding cuts from the current administration, this call from organizations across the country emphasizes the need to protect all of our access to clean air, water, and land.
In May, we joined our partners at the Equitable and Justice National Climate Platform and 65 organizations across the country in a letter urging the House of Representatives and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce to protect funding for environmental justice programs like the Clean Ports program and the Climate Pollution Reduction Grants program. These funds are crucial for EJ communities, as they help reduce local air pollution and protect public health.
Programs that improve public health such as Air Pollution Monitoring for schools, the Environmental and Climate Justice Block Grants program, Clean Ports Program and the Climate Pollution Reduction Grants program are not only vital to protecting vulnerable communities from a legacy of greater hazard exposure, they are also needed investments to create opportunity. The grant funds aren’t just a dollar figure. These are real losses—for residents breathing polluted air, for communities threatened by climate risks. It is extremely important that members of Congress oppose any provisions in the budget reconciliation bill that cancel public health protections. We must protect environmental justice programs that are crucial to the health and well being of the most vulnerable communities.