Complete list of press releases

“Today’s extreme ruling from the 6-to-3 Supreme Court supermajority damages the foundational legal principle that has long ensured clean air, clean water, a safe climate, food free from contaminants and healthy fisheries. It undermines vital protections for the American people at the behest of powerful polluters.

“Unfortunately, this extreme Supreme Court is not done, and the 6-to-3 supermajority will likely continue to unravel the bedrock statutory protections that help ensure clean air, clean water and a safe climate for all.

“The alarm bells are ringing to vote. Your vote will determine the strength of our public health and environmental protections and will decide whether we have leaders who will address climate change, officials who will ensure we have clean air and water, and a judiciary that protects the interests of the American people over powerful polluters.

“Environmental Defense Fund will be working diligently in the court of law and the court of public opinion to protect clean air, clean water and climate safety for all people – as Congress intended and as how, until now, has protected the American people.”

            - Vickie Patton, General Counsel for Environmental Defense Fund

Background

Today’s Supreme Court decisions were in in Relentless v. Dept. of Commerce (No. 22-1219) and Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo (No. 22-451). Environmental Defense Fund is the only environmental group to file amicus briefs in both cases – here and here. 

The cases challenged the Chevron doctrine – a pillar of the U.S. legal system for 40 years which holds that courts should defer to expert Executive Branch agencies like the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency when they reasonably interpret ambiguous instructions from Congress. Congress adopts laws to protect the American people from serious harms, and it instructs politically accountable expert agencies to carry out those protective laws. Without the Chevron doctrine, judges would be asked to second-guess common sense decisions about highly technical issues – effectively legislating from the bench.

In her dissent today, Justice Kagan writes:

“A rule of judicial humility gives way to a rule of judicial hubris …

“In one fell swoop, the majority today gives itself exclusive power over every open issue — no matter how expertise-driven or policy-laden — involving the meaning of regulatory law … 

“A longstanding precedent at the crux of administrative governance thus falls victim to a bald assertion of judicial authority. The majority disdains restraint, and grasps for power.”
 

(WASHINGTON – June 27, 2024) The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit late Wednesday rejected an emergency stay that would have delayed critical parts of an Environmental Protection Agency action to reduce cancer-causing pollution—in particular, the highly carcinogenic pollutant chloroprene.

Denka Performance Elastomer, which operates a synthetic rubber manufacturing facility in St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana, had asked the court to block its deadline to comply with EPA standards for hazardous air pollutants while it considers Denka’s separate lawsuit challenging the rule. EPA’s rule requires Denka to bring its facility into compliance with the standards within 90 days or to apply to EPA for a waiver, including interim steps Denka will take to ensure that it does not cause endangerment to community residents’ health.

“The court’s refusal to block EPA’s rule is a win for the communities of St. John the Baptist Parish,” said Earthjustice attorney Deena Tumeh. “The chloroprene reductions required by the rule are long needed, and EPA’s decision to require swift compliance is a recognition of the danger Denka poses to community members’ health. We’ll continue to defend and ensure the implementation of these important protections.” 

Pollution from Denka’s plant has been linked to extraordinarily high cancer rates in nearby Louisiana communities, primarily due to the facility’s chloroprene emissions. Denka is the sole chloroprene emitter in Louisiana and is responsible for 95 percent of chloroprene emissions in the U.S. EPA’s standards are expected to slash more than 6,200 tons a year of air pollution at about 200 industrial plants across the country, reducing air toxics-related cancer risks in nearby communities by 96 percent.

“EPA’s air pollution standards for the nation’s largest petrochemical facilities are commonsense, foundational safeguards that will deliver cleaner air and protect people’s health,” said Peter Zalzal, Environmental Defense Fund’s associate vice president of Clean Air Strategies. “The Court’s decision is vital, it will ensure Denka complies with EPA’s pollution safeguards and will deliver urgently needed reductions in toxic and carcinogenic pollution that have long harmed community members in St. John the Baptist Parish. We will continue to vigorously defend these essential safeguards.”

EDF and Earthjustice, on behalf of its clients—Air Alliance Houston, California Communities Against Toxics, The Concerned Citizens of St. John, Environmental Integrity Project, LEAN, RISE St. James, Sierra Club and T.e.j.a.s.—have intervened in defense of EPA’s standards and filed a response in opposition to Denka’s motion to stay the rule.

Washington, D.C. – A divided 5-to-4 Supreme Court today granted pre-judgment stay applications to block a critically important Environmental Protection Agency rule aimed at reducing interstate smog pollution and improving public health. This decision means tens of millions of people will be exposed to higher levels of dangerous air pollution this summer, causing asthma attacks, lung damage, and premature deaths.

The stay applications, filed by Ohio, Indiana, and West Virginia and a group of industrial polluters will block the Good Neighbor rule while challenges to it are litigated on the merits in the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. These emergency requests were filed on the Supreme Court’s “shadow docket” before full consideration of the merits through full briefing before the D.C. Circuit. The Supreme Court held oral argument over the emergency requests in late February.

The EPA’s Good Neighbor Plan requires coal-burning power plants and other high-polluting industrial sources to decrease emissions that contribute to smog, thereby protecting residents in dozens of states who are unwillingly subjected to harmful air pollution from industrial sources of pollution often hundreds of miles away. Today’s decision means that polluters are no longer required to comply with the rule’s requirements, and facilities that began reducing their emissions last year can increase them again. 

"Today’s decision is deeply disappointing. It will result almost immediately in pollution that endangers the health of millions of people. The Court’s action is also very troubling because of the process by which the Supreme Court reached it:  It intervened based on the minimal process of its emergency or ‘shadow’ docket even after the lower court had carefully considered and rejected the case for a stay – and even though the applicants never identified any legal issue warranting ultimate Supreme Court review on the merits,” said the coalition of health and environmental groups defending the rule. “Courts have repeatedly upheld the EPA’s prior ozone transport rules as sound and effective strategies to reduce smog pollution. Congress has expressly required EPA to protect the public from interstate air pollution and to do so in a timely way. We will continue to support EPA’s efforts to implement these vital statutory protections that provide cleaner air and healthier lives for millions of people."

Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, and power sector and industry groups sought an emergency stay of the Good Neighbor Plan, requiring upwind states to reduce their contributions to hazardous smog levels in downwind states. 

Smog, a harmful form of air pollution formed by emissions from power plants, factories and vehicles, leads to asthma attacks, heart and lung diseases, and premature deaths. The fully implemented Good Neighbor Plan is projected to prevent over a million annual asthma attacks and avert a thousand premature deaths, while also benefiting forests and waterways harmed by ozone and its precursor pollutants. 

A coalition of environmental and health groups has been defending the Good Neighbor Rule as intervenors in the D.C. Circuit litigation and filed oppositions to the Supreme Court applications seeking to block these safeguards. The coalition includes: Environmental Defense Fund; Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future, Clean Air Council, and Clean Wisconsin represented by Clean Air Task Force; and Air Alliance Houston, Appalachian Mountain Club, Center for Biological Diversity, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Downwinders at Risk, Earthjustice, Louisiana Environmental Action Network, Sierra Club, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, and Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment, represented by attorneys at Earthjustice.

“Today, after hearing challenges on its shadow docket – without full briefing and before the D.C. Circuit could consider any of the litigation on its merits – the Supreme Court recklessly issued an emergency stay to block vital clean air protections that were in effect and protecting the lives and health of millions of people. The Court’s extraordinary decision today to grant an emergency stay is a travesty of justice that puts the lives and health of millions of people at risk.

“The Supreme Court agreed to block EPA’s Good Neighbor Plan, which protects people in downwind states from smog-forming pollution that blows across state lines from upwind coal-fired power plants and other large industrial sources – pollution that is linked to serious heart and lung diseases and premature deaths. The Good Neighbor Plan was already operating in eleven states and was expected to save one thousand lives each year when it was fully implemented. 

“The Good Neighbor Plan has a rock-solid legal foundation in the Clean Air Act’s Good Neighbor provision and in long-standing precedent. More than a century ago Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes recognized that downwind states had a legal right not to suffer pollution from their upwind neighbors, and the Supreme Court itself affirmed EPA’s authority to protect downwind states as recently as 2014 in the EME Homer City Generation case. And in her dissent today Justice Barrett said the court ‘enjoins the enforcement of a major Environmental Protection Agency rule based on an underdeveloped theory that is unlikely to succeed on the merits.’

“Upwind polluters have rudimentary and commonsense options to comply with the law. Modern pollution controls are readily available and have already been widely deployed. In spite of that, and in spite of the Good Neighbor Rule’s strong legal history, upwind polluters bypassed our nation’s well-established legal processes and asked the Supreme Court for an emergency stay to block the rule. This summer’s ozone season will be more severe and more dangerous because of the Court’s decision today. 

“Environmental Defense Fund will vigorously defend EPA’s Good Neighbor Protections to ensure the millions of people afflicted by upwind smog pollution can breathe easier.”

            - Vickie Patton, General Counsel, Environmental Defense Fund

 As Justice Barrett’s dissent explains, the serious pollution harms imposed on millions of people counsel restraint: “[T]he Court’s injunction leaves large swaths of upwind States free to keep contributing significantly to their downwind neighbors’ ozone problems for the next several years — even though the temporarily stayed SIP disapprovals may all be upheld and the FIP may yet cover all the original States. The Court justifies this decision based on an alleged procedural error that likely had no impact on the plan. So its theory would require EPA only to confirm what we already know: EPA would have promulgated the same plan even if fewer States were covered. Rather than require this years-long exercise in futility, the equities counsel restraint.”

Environmental Defense Fund was a party in the case and served as counsel of record for environmental groups.

The New York MTA Board today adopted a resolution officially recognizing that they cannot implement congestion pricing without the go ahead from the Governor. As a result of the $15 billion hole left by the Governor’s pause, the MTA was forced to announce they are halting $16.5 billion of projects, including bus and subway expansions, accessibility upgrades, state of good repair projects and zero-emission bus projects. Congestion pricing would also have reduced traffic in the most congested city in the world and improved air quality. 

“The MTA must do all it can to maintain a safe and reliable public transportation system. Our environment and economy demand that the Governor start the program as soon as possible,” said Andy Darrell, Senior Advisor, Environmental Defense Fund. “Congestion pricing is the only proven, durable solution that delivers desperately needed revenue, traffic reduction and air quality and climate results. There is no other alternative that boosts New York’s economy, supports and expands the transit system, improves local air quality and aligns with New York’s climate goals.”  

NEW YORK, June 26, 2024 - Analysis of a new pricing guide for tropical forests nations by experts at the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) reveals how jurisdictional REDD+ carbon credit prices are set to increase significantly by 2028.  

Jurisdictional REDD+ (or JREDD+) refers to national or state-level, large scale programmes to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation. JREDD+ is a newer concept, but three tropical forest countries, Guyana, Costa Rica and Ghana have already signed JREDD+ deals in the voluntary carbon market (VCM), while Guyana has issued credits and received $150 million for its efforts to protect and restore forests. Several more jurisdictions are expected to sign similar agreements with buyers this year;  the Brazilian state of Acre recently signed a term sheet for 10 million credits with the LEAF coalition. 

The report, Navigating Jurisdictional REDD+: A Pricing Guide for Tropical Forest Nations, is powered by MSCI Carbon Markets data and is designed to help tropical forest governments secure more financing and more favourable JREDD+ contracts with buyers.  

Analyses by EDF and MSCI Carbon Markets show that up to 300 million metric tons of forest carbon credits from JREDD+ programs could come from jurisdictions in the ART-TREES pipeline by 2030 – six times the size of the REDD+ demand today. (REDD+ refers to smaller project-based activities to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation.) While questions remain on whether demand will scale to meet this growth in supply, EDF forecasts rising prices for JREDD+ credits, as buyers increasingly seek out higher quality credits.  

While REDD+ prices have fallen by over 70% in the last 12 months, “premium” REDD+ projects are trading at double the price of average projects, with a widening premium. A survey of 478 corporate buyers indicates a 20 - 40% willingness to pay a premium for JREDD+ credits over REDD+. 

As a result, EDF estimates that today, JREDD+ credits have an estimated value of $6 - $12 depending on the vintage of the credit and individual jurisdictional considerations. However, the LEAF Coalition has functionally set a floor price of $10, while Guyana’s 2022 deal with Hess Corporation is increasingly looking like an outlier.  

Looking forward, average JREDD+ prices are forecasted to grow from current levels to around $15 in 2028. 162 scenarios were modelled and tested with experts to determine this forecast. Nonetheless, the report also notes that “Given the limited trading volumes in the VCM at large – and specifically within the nascent JREDD+ market – forecasts, and even price estimates today, can be highly imprecise and one or two large policy changes could shift pricing dramatically.” 

Report author Dylan McCall-Landry, Director of Sustainable Finance at EDF, said: “There is no way to avoid the worst impacts of climate change without drastically reducing tropical deforestation by 2030. Carbon finance via jurisdictional scale programs can provide vital resources to reverse current economic incentives, so that forests are worth more alive than dead, while also benefiting local governments, Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities, as well as biodiversity. This report aims to enhance market transparency, empowering forest nations to better navigate carbon markets and secure vital financing to conserve these crucial ecosystems.  

FONAFIFO, the National Forest Financing Fund of Costa Rica, said: 

“Costa Rica is one of the first countries to submit an emissions reductions program under these new standards for higher environmental integrity. These new standards seek to provide ER credits that correspond with real and transparent emission, while respecting environmental and social safeguards. However, Costa Rica is concerned that voluntary markets are not responding as expected. The prices of high-integrity credits still do not reflect the country’s required effort to produce them. Likewise, it is noted that buyers depreciate the value of carbon credits due to their age (vintage). This climate finance provides vital funds to support sustainable developments, IPs and LCs, and protect the climate and biodiversity. In this sense, EDF is playing a fundamental role in increasing the transparency related to pricing and forecasts in this new market, which helps Costa Rica negotiate carbon contracts with buyers with greater confidence.” 

Guy Turner, Head of MSCI Carbon Markets, said: 

“Jurisdictional mechanisms have the potential to deliver large-scale forest protection. They will, however, require countries to be supported with comprehensive carbon data and relevant insights to successfully navigate the VCM. This research clearly demonstrates the potential of JREDD+ and I am proud of the role it can play in supporting governments in their engagement with the market.” 

Angel Sandoval, Undersecretary of Climate Change of the Ministry of Environment and Ecological Transition of Ecuador, said: 

(English) "Jurisdictional REDD+ has a comprehensive approach to working with countries with tropical forests, such as Ecuador, as it contributes to improving the long-term protection of their forests and supporting local communities and indigenous peoples. The Environmental Defense Fund's price analysis will provide relevant inputs to understand the international perspective on carbon pricing, increase information transparency, and improve relationships between governments and indigenous peoples and local communities. Additionally, it will highlight the need for greater commitment from carbon investors/buyers to improve per-ton prices for the market to function effectively.” 

(Español) "Jurisdiccional REDD+ cuenta con un enfoque integral para trabajar con los países con bosques tropicales como Ecuador, dado que contribuye a mejorar la protección de sus bosques a largo plazo y apoyar a las comunidades locales y pueblos indígenas. El análisis de precios de Environmental Defense Fund contribuirá con insumos relevantes para entender la perspectiva internacional sobre precios de carbono, aumentar la transparencia de la información y mejorar las relaciones entre los gobiernos, y, pueblos indígenas y comunidades locales. Pero también, mostrará la necesidad de un mayor compromiso desde los inversores/compradores de carbono para mejorar los precios por tonelada para que el mercado funcione”

Beyond price, the report outlines several important developments within the wider VCM on demand, policy, and market governance. For example: 

Demand  

• Demand has somewhat plateaued over the past two years as the market has been in a state of “wait and see” as integrity concerns, combined with a lack of sufficiently strong regulatory mandates to compel corporate action, led to tepid demand. If demand does not rebound, increasing supply will put downward pressure on prices, limiting incentives for jurisdictions to conserve these crucial ecosystems and putting climate goals at risk.  
• However, demand may now be returning. Retirements for all types of carbon credits in the last quarter of 2023 and first quarter of 2024, were on average, 40% higher than the rate of retirements over the course of 2022 and 2023.   
• Q4 of 2024 saw a spike in REDD+ retirements, with 74% year-on-year growth in retirements. REDD+ retirements increased from 22% of total retirements in 2022 to 30% in 2023.  
• The supply of VCM credits continued to outpace demand in 2023, with retirements running at about 50% of issuances. However, the growth in surplus is slowing, from 49M tonnes per quarter in 2022 to 40M metric tonnes in 2023.

Policy  

A patchwork of financial regulation targeting the VCM and corporate claims in the world’s largest economies is emerging, but so far lacks sufficient clarity and “teeth”:  

• The SEC issued Corporate Climate Disclosure rules March 2024: requiring thousands of the largest companies in the US to disclose climate-related risks that have a material impact on a business’s financial performance, and strategies, including use of carbon credits, to mitigate this risk.  
• The EU Green Claims Directive, approved by the EU Parliament in January restricts the ability for companies to make product-level carbon neutral claims using carbon credits and therefore, may weaken the business case for their use. However, there is optimism that over time it will likely increase consumer confidence that companies are not using carbon credits for greenwashing, potentially helping to enhance corporate confidence and consumer trust in the VCM.  
• California’s AB1305 passed, requiring disclosures from market participants (buyers and sellers) in relation to the use of carbon credits and associated claims.  

Several countries from the Global South have begun to update their policy environments to better address their climate commitments and access carbon finance:  

• Taxes, national policy, and benefit sharing arrangements have been enacted or are under development in Kenya, Zimbabwe, Mexico, Chile, and Colombia. 
• National carbon taxes or cap and trade regimes are under development or are being introduced in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Nigeria, and Mexico.  

Consensus on Article 6.4 (a centralized system for monitoring international carbon trades) and additional legal clarity on Article 6.2 (bilateral trades) is unlikely for some time, with early 2026 seen as a best-case scenario.  

Market governance  

• The ICVCM will roll out its “CCP (Core Carbon Principle) Approved” label this year, which is expected to carry a significant price premium. ART has already passed the first step in the process and there is cautious optimism that its ‘TREES’ JREDD+ methodology will secure CCP approval at some point between later this year. There is evidence that some buyers are waiting for CCP tagged credits before proceeding with new purchases. 
• In July, the SBTi (Science Based Target Initiative) is expected to update its guidance on whether companies can use carbon credits to abate Scope 3 emissions. SBTi’s current position that credits may not be used to offset corporate emissions is frequently cited by corporate actors as one of the main barriers to near-term decarbonisation. The organisation is currently mired in internal dispute between the board and staff, but if the Board’s April statement is formalised, it would be momentous in clarifying the role of the VCM in corporate climate action and would provide the "end-to-end integrity framework" that ICVCM and VCMI (Voluntary Carbon Market Integrity) have called for. 
• The VCMI launched its Carbon Integrity Standard in November 2023 guiding claims that corporates can make when using credits. VCMI Claims should have a positive impact on the carbon markets by giving corporates confidence in the claims they can make. However, uptake has been slow with a high bar for entry. Ongoing development of the Scope 3 Flexibility Claim may drive additional demand. 

 ### 

Notes to Editors  

About the Environmental Defense Fund 

EDF has played a leading role in the development of the REDD+ and JREDD+ markets. Highlights include: 

• Pioneered the Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) framework in partnership with ISA and IPAM 
• Helped to launch the LEAF Coalition in 2021 and set up Emergent, the administer of LEAF, in 2019 
• Contributed to the design of the ART-TREES standard 
• Issued the NCS Crediting Handbook to advance the equitable and effective crediting for NCS   
• A core partner in the creation of the Tropical Forest Credit Integrity (TFCI) guide, which has influenced corporate commitments in carbon market towards JREDD+  
• Founding member of the Jurisdictional Technical Assistance Partnership (JTAP), an emerging initiative to support jurisdictions to participate in the highest integrity voluntary carbon markets  
• Supported Indigenous partners to secure global commitments to the Cancun Safeguards, and to remove obstacles to market participation by advancing the REDD Early Movers program in Brazil  
• Advanced biodiversity conservation at the state- and national-level in some of the world’s most biodiverse countries, including Ecuador, Costa Rica, and Brazil 

(Washington, D.C.) EPA and the Department of Energy today announced $850 million in available funding through the Methane Emissions Reduction Program, created by Congress under the Inflation Reduction Act to cut pollution from oil and gas operations nationwide. 

The funding will further improve mitigation technologies, help states and tribes with their methane standard implementation plans and help smaller operators comply with EPA methane standards published this past spring. The program is designed to complement and facilitate compliance with the EPA methane rule and the program’s waste emissions charge. 

“This funding is a critical component of one of the biggest, most impactful climate initiatives undertaken by Congress and this administration. Cutting methane pollution from oil and gas operations is one of the fastest ways we have to slow the rate of warming. These funds will help states, tribes and communities get the job done quicker, and help small operators meet new emissions performance rules,” said Jon Goldstein, EDF’s Senior Director, Regulatory and Legislative Affairs.     

MERP allocated over a billion dollars to reduce methane pollution from oil and gas industry operations. Through technical and financial assistance, the program will cut methane waste, improve efficiency for energy production and protect the climate.  

Methane is over 80 times more powerful than carbon dioxide in the near term, and human-caused methane emissions drive about 30 percent of current global warming. Reducing oil and gas methane emissions is the fastest, most cost-effective way to slow our current rate of warming.   

The announcement follows the release of $350 million in funding in an earlier round for states to reduce emissions at marginal conventional wells, which are low-producing but responsible for about half of wellsite emissions nationwide. Fourteen states including Texas, Pennsylvania, Louisiana and New Mexico took part in that program and received funding based on their proportion of marginal conventional wells.  

“The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York today rejected legal attacks on New York’s vital Congestion Pricing program, holding the environmental assessment was legally sound and contained important mitigation measures. 

“This rigorous judicial review of the environmental assessment is another important step toward ensuring millions of people across the New York region have the benefits of clean air, a modern transit system, a safer climate, and the reduction in congestion that Congestion Pricing will provide.”
 

            - Vickie Patton, General Counsel for Environmental Defense Fund
 

Environmental Defense Fund, New York League of Conservation Voters, Tri-State Transportation Campaign, Riders Alliance, Real Estate Board of New York, New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, WE ACT for Environmental Justice, StreetsPAC, and Transportation Alternatives jointly submitted an amicus brief in this case supporting the adequacy of the environmental assessment. 

The board and staff of Environmental Defense Fund mourn the passing of EDF co-founder and environmental pioneer George M. Woodwell, who died June 18 at age 95. His enormous contribution to the cause of environmental protection will be his enduring legacy. 

When Woodwell and EDF co-founder Charles Wurster both arrived on Long Island, New York, in the mid-1960s, they collaborated on studying the environmental effects of the pesticide DDT. They joined with other scientists and an attorney to win an injunction against the spraying of DDT on Long Island in 1966, to found Environmental Defense Fund in 1967, and to win a U.S. ban on DDT in 1972. 

Woodwell and other scientists were among the first to present concerns about climate change to the U.S. Congress. He served on the EDF Board of Trustees for many years and remained an honorary trustee until his death. He will be deeply missed.

WASHINGTON — Today a measure was introduced to help ensure fisheries in the United States are resilient to changing ocean conditions, including the impacts of climate change.

The Fisheries Improvement and Seafood Health (FISH) Act omnibus, which includes the Resilient Fisheries Act, will create a new program within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) dedicated to fisheries and ecological resilience. It will create a durable path for continued implementation of NOAA’s Climate, Ecosystems, and Fisheries Initiative, which aims to provide fishery decision-makers with the information, tools and capacity needed to make sound management decisions that account for changing conditions and threats such as warming oceans, marine heatwaves, ocean acidification and sea level rise.

“The FISH Act will ensure our fisheries are ready for the challenges — and opportunities — of tomorrow,” said Environmental Defense Fund associate vice president for political affairs Joanna Slaney. “Through investments in our fishery data systems, improved stakeholder engagement and effective collaboration, we can better prepare our fisheries to adapt to changing conditions, ensuring resilient fishing communities and healthy oceans for generations to come.”

The FISH Act will play an important role in preparing our nation’s fisheries for the future by:

• advancing ocean and ecosystem understanding and modeling to project future ocean conditions and inform fishery management;
• improving our understanding of how changing ocean conditions will impact fish stocks;
• improving understanding and awareness of how changing fishing and ocean conditions will impact coastal communities, economies and traditional ways of life;
• developing innovative, science-based tools, processes and decision support systems to meet conservation and management standards;
• improving engagement with fishermen and fishing communities as well as state, local, tribal and community leaders on future ocean conditions and the impacts of the changing marine environment on fisheries;
• creating and providing tools, training and support to U.S. Regional Fishery Management Councils for management of and adaptation to changing oceans and fisheries; and
• coordinating across NOAA and other relevant agencies to streamline efforts to model changing ocean ecosystems and increase fishery resilience.

“Commercial fishermen go to work each day battling wind, waves, and weather to help feed this country and support our coastal communities; yet they are often managed with tools and regulations that cannot adapt quickly enough to a dynamic and changing environment,” said Eric Brazer, Deputy Director of the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance — the largest organization of commercial grouper and snapper fishermen in the Gulf of Mexico.  “We applaud this effort to improve the systems we need to maintain and grow resilient and competitive seafood businesses and sustain resilient fisheries for today and future generations.”

The collection of fishery-focused legislation in the FISH Act seeks to make fisheries more sustainable and improve and update fisheries policy through a targeted approach.  The FISH Act also includes a study to address domestic seafood’s global competitiveness and will require fishery management measures to consider and account for the effects of changing ecological and environmental conditions.

United States fisheries are among the best managed in the world, with 94% of the nation’s fish stocks managed within sustainable limits last year. According to NOAA, U.S. fisheries supported more than 2.3 million jobs and generated $321 billion in sales in 2022. Sound management is due in large part to strong policies that ensure robust, science-based management of our nation’s fisheries, an approach supported by the collaborative efforts of lawmakers, fishery managers, and industry. Environmental Defense Fund has worked side-by-side with fishery managers and stakeholders to put in place this strong foundation for sustainable management of our nation’s fisheries, and the FISH Act will ensure our fisheries are managed sustainably in the face of a rapidly changing climate. 

(TRENTON, NJ – June 18, 2024) One in 3 New Jersey residents now lives within a half-mile of a mega-warehouse, facing elevated exposure to freight truck pollution, according to a new report released Tuesday, June 18 by Environmental Defense Fund and the Coalition for Healthy Ports NY/NJ. This report builds on recent similar EDF analyses in New York and Illinois.

Diesel-powered freight trucks play a crucial role in the supply chain but exacerbate air and noise pollution and pose safety and traffic challenges. They are also the fastest-growing source of climate pollution in many areas. Our report traces the explosive growth of mega-warehouses, which generate hundreds of thousands of truck trips daily throughout the state. It also shows how these facilities are more likely to be located in communities of color and of lower wealth.

Access the full report here. 

Who:

• Sam Becker, Project Manager, Global Clean Air, Environmental Defense Fund
• New Jersey State Senator, John F. McKeon (D-27)
• New Jersey State Assemblywoman, Andrea Katz (D-8) 
• Tolani Taylor, Zero Emissions & Warehouse Organizer, Clean Water Action
• Kevin Barfield, Community Activist, Camden for Clean Air
• Casandia Bellevue, Associate Attorney, EarthJustice
• Garrett O’Connor, Director of Worker Organizing and Policy, Make the Road New Jersey
• Kim Gaddy, Founder and Director, South Ward Environmental Alliance
• Sue Kozel, Public Historian & Warehouse Activist, Upper Freehold Township, NJ

What: Launch of new EDF report: New Jersey Warehouse Boom

When: Tuesday, June 18, 2024, 1:00 PM ET

Where: Join us online. Get details and register here.

To set up an interview, please contact Derek Schwabe. 

Key report findings:

• The report identified 3,034 warehouses in the state of New Jersey. 44% of these warehouses are between 50,000 and 100,000 square feet and 56% exceed 100,000 square feet (about the size of a standard big box retailer).
• These warehouses comprise 527 million square feet – a number that has grown 35% in the last two decades. They generate at least 380,000 truck trips every day.
• 2.7 million people – about one in three New Jerseyans – live within a half mile of these warehouses. Some 178,000 are under age five and 350,000 are over age 64.
• Limited English populations are 1.9 times more likely to live within half a mile of these warehouses than expected, compared to statewide demographics. This population composes 0.02% of the total state population and 0.04% of warehouse neighbors. 
• Hispanic/Latino populations are 1.8 times more likely to live within half a mile of these warehouses than expected, compared to statewide demographics. This population composes 20.2% of the total state population and 36.7% of warehouse neighbors. 
• Low-income populations are 1.5 times more likely to live within half a mile of these warehouses than expected, compared to statewide demographics. This population composes 9.8% of the total state population and 14.8% of warehouse neighbors. 
• Black populations are 1.4 times more likely to live within half a mile of these warehouses than expected, compared to statewide demographics. This population composes 14.8% of the total state population and 21.1% of warehouse neighbors. 
• Indigenous American populations are 1.1 times more likely to live within half a mile of these warehouses than expected, compared to statewide demographics.   This population composes 0.07% of the total state population and 0.08% of warehouse neighbors. 

Sam Becker, Project Manager with EDF’s Global Clean Air Initiative, observed how the report’s findings quantify an issue that communities have been raising the alarm about for years. "New Jersey residents living near and working in warehouses will not be surprised by the outsized growth of truck-attracting facilities documented in this report and the disproportionate burden of polluted air they have no choice but to breathe.”

Lawmakers, community groups and advocates call for legislative action

The report arrives as state legislators put forward the Warehouse and Port Pollution Reduction Act, a bill that would curb pollution at warehouses and other truck attracting facilities by requiring them to implement concrete emission reduction measures. The bill would direct DEP to establish flexible compliance options alongside permitting requirements to achieve these reductions, with higher thresholds for environmental justice communities. 

“We have seen a huge increase in warehouses across the state in the last few years and they don’t only add traffic around them — but also air pollution. I see it everyday when I’m driving down 206 with my kids and I’m not the only one. We have giant trucks rumbling down residential streets that were never built with this in mind. I’m proud to be introducing legislation that will bring transparency to where these mega warehouses are going and how they impact the community around them,” said State Assemblywoman, Andrea Katz.

“There is no doubt that warehouses and ports are a critical component of NJ’s freight and goods movement industry. But the health and environmental impact it is posing on many communities that live in close proximity to these facilities, cannot be tolerated any longer. Which is why I am proud to support legislation like establishing an ISR program here in NJ. This policy just goes to show that it is possible to create a freight and goods movement system that is sustainable for all stakeholders involved,” added State Senator, John F. Mckeon.

Members of the Coalition for Healthy Ports, a state-wide coalition, commented on the report’s findings and the need for legislators to act. 

“This report combined with having the right leadership committed to introducing a statewide policy like an ISR (Indirect Source Rule) is needed more than ever right now. Without a clean transition in business operations at our ports and warehouses, environmental justice and overburdened communities will continue to suffer. New Jersey’s freight industry and goods movement desperately needs to be improved and an having a statewide policy like an ISR, in addition to others, would definitely be a step in the right direction,”  said Tolani Taylor, Zero Emissions & Warehouse Organizer with Clean Water Action. 

“We can move goods in New Jersey without funneling diesel pollution into communities and kids’ lungs. The Warehouse and Port Pollution Reduction Act would go a long way in giving communities living in the shadow of ports and mega warehouses a breath of clean air. This bill will fill in major gaps in New Jersey law, and begin to meaningfully shift the goods movement industry over to zero-emissions solutions that will help clear our skies of smog and pollution” added Casandia Bellevue, Associate Attorney with the Community Partnerships Program at Earthjustice. 

“Warehouses have negative impacts that affect the health and wellness of nearby residents. Diesel trucks idling and traveling to and from these warehouses emit NOx, particulate matter and black carbon (soot) into the air, which are extremely harmful air pollutants. Our communities need wellness, over warehouses!” said Kelli Koontz Wilson, Coordinator for the Coalition for Healthy Ports.

"New Jersey environmental justice communities need an indirect source review policy that specifically protects them from large amounts of diesel traffic” said Nicky Sheats, Ph.D., Esq., Director, Center for the Urban Environment, John S. Watson Institute for Urban Policy and Research at Kean University, and Member of the New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance

Additional quotes from activists across New Jersey 

"Our children are the future of American Society…. I have asthma. I can't imagine young children who are from less wealthy families having to breathe diesel fuels and air pollution that will destroy their lungs. We must regulate NJ DEP to monitor truck and car traffic at these mega-warehouses. Children of color matter as much as white children. This Legislative idea is life-changing. THANK YOU Tolani Taylor and Clean Water Action for leading the effort for social justice that will prevail over warehouses." said Sue Kozel, Public Historian, Clean Water Action member and anti-warehouse advocate trying to protect a Revolutionary War site in Upper Freehold from 500,000 sq. ft. of warehouses.

"Warehouses have proliferated across our state, and communities are asked to choose between their health and the promises of jobs, the environment and the promises of jobs, clean air and jobs.  Our experience and the data both tell us we need BOTH quality jobs and clean air, and we can no longer allow developers, their lobbyists, or legislators to make us choose." said Garrett O’Connor, Director of Worker Organizing and Policy, Make the Road New Jersey.

“We cannot keep siting industry - and the associated impacts on air and water quality - in Black and Brown communities that are already disproportionately overburdened with air pollution,” said Ed Potosnak, Director, New Jersey League of Conservation Voters.

"The legislature must take action before more warehouses are built in communities already suffering from air pollution, next to schools, in green spaces, and on farmland.”

“The primary goal of ALL governments is to protect & serve their citizens/residents. This holds true regarding the appropriate placement of warehouses. They must not impinge on the safety & wellbeing of the residents/citizens, and be strategically located within our state & towns,” said Sarah Zacharczyk, Member of Citizens Action Warehouse Group

“Without adequate regulation in place, we now endure constant lawsuits, and when residents fail to protect their communities, much suffering and consternation between the public and lawmakers. We need the NJ State Planning Commission's Warehouse Siting Guidance to be mandated to ensure that residents' health, safety and way of life are not marginalized for developer profits. Support all bills that curb warehouse sprawl and protect the Garden State,”said Stacey Fox, Executive Director of Mercer County Defense League 

The Senate has voted to confirm three nominees, Judy Chang, David Rosner and Lindsay See, to serve as Commissioners on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. These Commissioners will fill two empty seats on FERC and replace Commissioner Allison Clements once her term expires at the end of June. 

“FERC plays a critical role in shaping the power grid that our homes, businesses and communities depend on. Decisions made by the Commission can determine how we expand and strengthen the grid to keep the lights on amid more frequent storms and heat waves, unlock more clean energy that curbs pollution and lower energy bills for ratepayers. 

“Having a full complement of five Commissioners will allow FERC to keep advancing the vital work needed to deliver reliable, affordable and clean power to everyone around the country. We’re pleased to see the Senate act quickly to return FERC to full strength.” 

- Ted Kelly, EDF Director of U.S. Clean Energy

(WASHINGTON – June 13, 2024) Earthjustice clients and Environmental Defense Fund moved to intervene in a lawsuit designed to stop an Environmental Protection Agency action that would significantly reduce cancer-causing pollution. 

Denka Performance Elastomer, which operates a synthetic rubber manufacturing facility in St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana, has asked the court to block its deadline to comply with EPA standards for hazardous air pollutants. Pollution from Denka’s plant–in particular, the carcinogen chloroprene–has been linked to extraordinarily high cancer rates in nearby Louisiana communities. 

Earthjustice, on behalf of its clients–Air Alliance Houston, California Communities Against Toxics, The Concerned Citizens of St. John, Environmental Integrity Project, LEAN, RISE St. James, Sierra Club and T.e.j.a.s.–and EDF filed a Motion to Intervene in defense of EPA’s standards with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The groups also filed an opposition to Denka’s request to halt its compliance deadline.

“Right now, these plants are monitoring their own air on the honor system—but there’s nothing honorable about them,” said Robert Taylor, founder and executive director of The Concerned Citizens of St. John. “We have the highest cancer risks from air pollution in the country, and we can’t afford to wait two more years for Denka to comply with the rules. Just 1,500 feet from this plant, over 400 students breathe toxic air every day at Fifth Ward Elementary School. These children are first and foremost in our minds as we fight for a better future.”

In April, EPA finalized stronger standards to limit petrochemical pollution from more than 200 industrial facilities across the country. The rules specifically reduce six highly toxic chemicals, all of which are known or suspected to cause cancer and other serious health harms. 

Citing its ongoing enforcement action to address Denka’s “imminent and substantial endangerment” to the surrounding community, EPA gave Denka 90 days to comply with these standards to significantly reduce its air pollution through a series of actions, including mandatory monitoring for cancer-causing chloroprene at the facility fenceline. Denka has asked the court to block that 90-day compliance deadline. 

Earthjustice clients and EDF strongly oppose Denka’s request to stay the compliance deadline, as immediate pollution reductions are needed to protect nearby communities.

(Washington, D.C. – June 12, 2024) Environmental Defense Fund is urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to reject attempts to block EPA protections against climate pollution from power plants.

On April 25, EPA unveiled standards that will slash climate pollution from new gas-burning power plants and existing coal-burning power plants. A group of Republican Attorneys General and fossil fuel-related businesses have petitioned the D.C. Circuit to stay – or immediately block – those critically important protections. 

EDF has now filed an amicus, or friend of the court, brief opposing those stay requests and supporting EPA’s standards. 

“Americans are today suffering from extreme storms and floods, rising temperatures, wildfires and wildfire smoke, unhealthy air quality, illness, threats to food and water supplies, unstable insurance markets, and lost homes due to the accumulated stocks of greenhouse gases. Each additional ton of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere contributes to the mounting climate crisis,” EDF says in its brief. “Although EPA has long been under a statutory obligation to control harmful climate pollution, litigation and administrative delays have forestalled implementation of the limits Congress mandated.”

Fossil fuel-fired power plants are responsible for about one-quarter of all U.S. climate pollution. The Clean Air Act requires EPA to address climate pollution, and the agency’s authority was recently reinforced by Congress in specific instructions in the Inflation Reduction Act.

The performance-based standards that EPA unveiled in April allow power companies flexibility to achieve required pollution reductions. The availability of low and zero-emitting solutions has been turbocharged by extensive investments under the Inflation Reduction Act and another law recently passed by Congress, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Clean power is now the most affordable and most reliable option in the U.S.

The D.C. Circuit has already rejected requests by West Virginia and by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association to administratively stay EPA’s standards. The court is now considering judicial stay requests by Republican Attorneys General and fossil fuel industry parties – many of whom have a long history of trying to block any pollution protections. 

EDF addresses those facts in its brief:

“Industry has profited from these delays while the public has paid the price — in significant climate-change harms and technological progress that federal standards would have prompted … [They] should not be allowed to leverage their own inaction on carbon pollution as a basis to further delay regulatory action … the Clean Air Act prioritizes public health and welfare.”

(WASHINGTON, DC) “The EMIT LESS Act was introduced in the House today as companion legislation to the previously introduced Senate version. The bill is an essential proposal to empower farmers and ranchers to address methane emissions from livestock. It builds on bipartisan momentum that advances climate-smart livestock farming.

“Methane is one of the biggest drivers of climate change today. Incentivizing and supporting producers in lowering these emissions, including the enteric methane that livestock emit as they digest their food, is essential for securing a safe climate and the long-term global competitiveness of the U.S. dairy and meat industries. 

“If enacted, the EMIT LESS Act will advance lower-methane livestock production in two ways. First, it will boost financial support and training to enable more producers to adopt enteric methane solutions more quickly. Second, it will accelerate research into additional solutions, which will provide producers with even more safe, proven solutions to choose for their operations. 

“We commend Reps. Crockett (TX-30) and Molinaro (NY-30) for championing this bill in the House and Sens. Bennet (CO), Crapo (ID), Baldwin (WI) and Moran (KS) for championing it in the Senate. Farmers and ranchers will benefit from this bill being included in a final, bipartisan farm bill package.”

• Andrew Lentz, director of federal affairs for agriculture policy at Environmental Defense Fund