FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 3, 2025
Contact: Ashley Sullivan, 1(917) 837-1183, Ashley.Sullivan@weact.org
WASHINGTON – Today, the Republican-majority U.S. Congress passed a regressive and catastrophic Federal budget bill. This bill is a demonstration of what happens when political will is led by corporate interests rather than the people. This bill will upend vital social services and economies by removing millions of Americans off of their healthcare and cutting hundreds of thousands of clean energy jobs. This bill will also amplify harm by expanding fossil fuel production and increasing pollution, cutting critical funding for environmental programs, and raising energy costs. WE ACT stands strongly with our communities, partners, and our allies to hold our Congressional representatives accountable for their irresponsible actions. We also call for everyone to join us in unwavering commitment to continue to pave the way for the fair, affordable, healthy, and safe policies and future we deserve.
The consequences of this bill will overwhelmingly – and by design – hurt and cause serious hardship for people of color and of lower income. Of the 12 million people who will be removed from Medicaid, 60% of those covered are people of color. As clean energy like wind and solar are cut with this bill and even more fossil fuel pollution chokes our air, Black residents face the highest death rate from soot air pollution. Over 100,000 more people could die or become sicker each year from the fossil fuel air pollution that clean energy sources injured by this bill would have helped to eliminate. Hundreds of thousands of needed clean energy jobs and industries are destroyed by this bill. It also adds 4 billion tons more climate pollution, while people of color and lower income are the most vulnerable to climate impacts like extreme heat, floods, and drought. And as low-income households spend a larger portion of their income on home energy costs, this bill will force these families to pay between an extra $130-$900 or more per household each year. This budget bill is an obvious billionaire giveaway to just under 100 of the richest Americans, and a callous attack on millions of people that reinforces unfair racial and economic disparities, setting us back decades.
Leslie Fields, Chief Federal Officer of WE ACT for Environmental Justice shared the following:
“This bill is a shameful jewel in the crown of cruelty worn by this administration, seeking to superfuel the ‘chain saw’ they used to reconstruct our government to work even less for the people and only for the wealthy. The fact that this bill has passed in Congress, despite tremendous public opposition, proves that our country deserves better leadership. The harms this bill will cause are real, but so is our resolve and the dedication of advocates, individuals, and communities. Together we will push back while leading locally, and we will never stop defending our basic human rights to clean air, water, lands, and a livable future for all.”
“While we sit in the shadow of this bill, we must continue to uplift reasons to maintain our course towards progress. This bill is a direct response by polluting industries and their Congressional partners to the transformational progress our communities have made over the past few years to create a better, healthier life for all people. But our efforts are deeper than dollars, and our moral compass points towards justice. We condemn this bill and reinforce that our movement to achieve environmental justice will prevail, no matter the obstacles.”
# # #
WE ACT for Environmental Justice is a Northern Manhattan-based, membership-driven organization whose mission is to build healthy communities by ensuring that people of color and/or low-income residents are meaningfully included in the development of sound and fair environmental health and protection policies and practices. WE ACT has offices in New York and Washington, D.C. Visit us at weact.org and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram.