A coalition of environmental organizations filed two lawsuits recently, one challenging the Biden administration’s decision to weaken the Clean Air Act’s standards for ozone pollution, and another over the Tennessee Valley Authority’s plans to replace a coal plant with a new gas-fired power plant.
The lawsuit against the EPA was filed by the Environmental Integrity Project, the National Parks Conservation Association, and the Sierra Club. The lawsuit alleges that the EPA has failed to enforce the Regional Haze Rule, which is designed to reduce air pollution that obscures views at national parks and other public lands.
The lawsuit against TVA was filed by the Sierra Club, Appalachian Voices, and the Center for Biological Diversity. The lawsuit alleges that TVA violated the National Environmental Policy Act by prematurely committing to the gas plant and failing to fairly study cleaner alternatives and the climate harm and economic impact of the gas plant.
“These lawsuits are a call to action for the Biden administration and TVA to take bold steps to protect our communities from air pollution and climate change,” said Bill Corcoran, director of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign. “We cannot afford to wait any longer.”
Ozone Pollution
Ozone pollution is a major public health threat. It can cause respiratory problems, heart disease, and cancer. The EPA’s own scientists have warned that the new ozone standard will allow millions more people to be exposed to unhealthy levels of ozone pollution.
The lawsuit filed by the Environmental Integrity Project, the National Parks Conservation Association, and the Sierra Club seeks to compel the EPA to strengthen the ozone standard and protect communities from this dangerous pollutant.
TVA Gas Plant
The Cumberland gas plant would pump out an estimated 2.8 million tons of climate-warming pollution each year for decades to come, worsening the climate crisis — which is already causing rising temperatures, increased flooding and wildfires, and more extreme storms — in the Tennessee Valley and beyond.
TVA’s use of fossil fuels would also saddle its 10 million customers with paying volatile fuel prices for decades, risking higher monthly power bills for families across the region.
“TVA made an early deal with an international corporation and then produced a faulty study of alternatives that was designed to favor that backroom agreement,” said Brianna Knisley, Tennessee Campaign Manager at Appalachian Voices. “After a summer of exceptionally high electricity bills in 2022 and rolling blackouts that winter, both largely caused by TVA’s volatile gas fleet, communities in the Valley deserve fair consideration of reliable, affordable and emissions-free alternatives for replacing the capacity at Cumberland. Federal law also requires it.”
The groups say TVA had a legal obligation to assess climate and environmental harms before spending billions to replace a coal-fired plant with a gas plant, but instead the agency signed a contract with a pipeline company before completing the required review. After committing itself to the plant, TVA downplayed the harms and costs of the planned gas plant, the lawsuit says.
“Instead of studying the environmental and financial impacts of its decision, the Tennessee Valley Authority relied on flawed reasoning and faulty assumptions to downplay the effects of its planned gas plant,” said Amanda Garcia, Director of SELC’s Tennessee Office. “We cannot stand by as TVA attempts to avoid its responsibilities in order to push through a dirty gas plant that will worsen the impacts of the climate crisis and handcuff customers to paying volatile fossil fuel prices for decades.”
The lawsuits filed by the Environmental Integrity Project, the National Parks Conservation Association, the Sierra Club, Appalachian Voices, and the Center for Biological Diversity are a major step forward in the fight against air pollution and climate change.
These lawsuits show the Biden administration is not taking enough bold action to protect our communities and our ecosystem, which could be a major selling point for environmental attorney Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the nephew of America’s 35th President, John F. Kennedy, and the son of his Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.
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