In recent years, more states have crafted environmental justice policies to help communities of color plagued by polluted air and water, poor health outcomes and limited access to green space.
But now they fear that work could be upended by a pair of pending U.S. Supreme Court cases examining affirmative action admissions policies at universities. If the court strikes down affirmative action, many state lawmakers believe, the ruling could open legal challenges to “race-conscious” laws that seek to help marginalized communities.
“State laws are very explicitly self-aware in acknowledging the past explicit racism that underlies the environmental injustice that we continue to see,” said Emily Hammond, an environmental law expert and professor at the George Washington University Law School. “That’s heartening, but it's worrisome to see those on a crash course with a different policy agenda to make race neutrality the explicit law of the land.”
