Health

HEALTH What You Should Know About the Supreme Court’s Landmark EPA Ruling West Virginia v.EPA Worries Eenvironmental Advocates, Sparks Protests

Worried about eviction?

You do not have to face this alone.

Legal Counsel for the Elderly provides free legal services to D.C. residents 60 and older.*

LCE Legal Hotline: 202-434-2120

aarp.org/LCE

@LCEinDC @LCEinDC

*Income eligibility applies. Legal Counsel for the Elderly is an affiliate of AARP.

Stay Informed!

www.washingtoninformer.com

Kayla Benjamin WI Contributing Writer

Close to 100 supporters of climate action raised their voices in front of the Supreme Court on Wednesday, July 6, in spite of the morning’s sticky heat and a sky that threatened rain.

“We are unstoppable! A better world is possible!” advocates chanted. “Climate action now!”

The group, organized by Climate Action Campaign, showed up to rally against the Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling in West Virginia vs. Environmental Protection Agency, which limited the EPA’s regulatory authority to curb greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. The June 30 ruling came at the end of a busy month for the court, which delivered hugely impactful decisions eliminating Americans’ federally-protected right to abortion access and expanding the right to carry guns in public.

Amidst a busy news cycle, advocates for climate action and environmental justice have fought to focus attention on this ruling’s potential consequences for both climate change and air pollution.

“It's very technical when we start talking about ‘coal-fired power plants’ and ‘renewable portfolio standards,’” said Cecile Brown, a communications manager for political affairs and climate at the Environmental Defense Fund.

“I don't think the average person or the average resident knows what's at stake. And I think that's just the most alarming thing about this decision,” Brown said.

So what are the stakes? And why are climate experts and environmental advocates like Brown so concerned? Here are three things to know about this consequential ruling.

CLIMATE CHANGE, AIR POLLUTION, AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE ARE ALL AT STAKE

Fossil fuel burning power plants, which emit harmful chemicals like sulfur dioxide and mercury alongside greenhouse gasses, continue to be disproportionately located in Black, Latino, Indigenous, and low-income communities. The Supreme Court ruling makes it more difficult for the EPA to regulate these emissions and push industries to switch from high-polluting fuels like coal to cleaner forms of energy.

“The average person takes about 20,000 breaths a day: for some people, those 20,000 breaths are in dangerous, dirty air and for others they will be in clean air,” said Mustafa Santiago Ali, vice president, Environmental Justice, Climate and Community Revitalization for the National Wildlife Federation.

“This decision places challenges on our most vulnerable communities and our most vulnerable children,.” he said.

The case demonstrates the court’s push to reduce federal agencies’ power.

West Virginia v. EPA centered on an Obama-era initiative called the Clean Power Plan (CPP) which would have required states to cut back on emissions from power plants and meet federally-mandated goals. However, before it could go into effect, the Supreme Court suspended the plan.

Years later, the U.S. energy sector actually exceeded the plan’s intended goals even without any comprehensive regulation in place after a number of aging coal plants simply became more expensive to operate than natural gas or renewable energy plants. Since the goals had already been achieved, the Biden administration said it wasn’t interested in trying to revive the CPP.

“Is it purely about the law? Or is it about politics? Because we know that for the last 30 years, the Republican Party has been focused on deconstructing many of our environmental protections,” Ali said. “They had to

HEALTH Page 33

5 Protesters gathered at the Supreme Court on July 6 before marching to the Capitol building. (Kayla Benjamin/The Washington Informer)

Uptick of Monkeypox Cases Hit the District

Health Officials Work to Protect at-risk Residents

5 At-risk D.C. residents can receive the monkeypox vaccine at their request. (Courtesy photo)

Lindiwe Vilakazi WI Contributing Writer

The recent rise of Monkeypox cases has become a local health concern as the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported 64 total cases in the District (as of July 8), prompting health officials to take action in addressing the sudden spread.

Originally discovered in 1958 within a research colony of monkeys, the source of the virus remains unknown. But it spreads to people through the scratch, or bite of an infected animal, infected person, or materials contaminated with the virus.

Falling under the viral family of smallpox, monkeypox shares many of the same symptoms most commonly shown as a pimple or blistered rash, additionally including fever, headache, chills, swollen lymph nodes, muscle aches and exhaustion.

“We started preparing for an event like this already three weeks ago,” said Anil T. Mangla, State Epidemiologist for the District of Columbia. “The CDC also made it clear that the track of monkeypox to the general U.S. population is low.”

Concerns of the rare infection have prompted District Mayor Bowser, in conjunction with DC Health, to allot limited vaccination appointments at the Ward & Ward Mental Health Services building in Northwest, for qualifying District residents most in need.

Availability remains limited to 300 appointments, specifically offered to gay males who have sex with other males, transgender or nonbinary women, sex workers and staff of sex work spaces in the case of open transmission. The specific classifications have created a tight dialogue on ensuring there is no bias while addressing those most vulnerable to the health issue.

“This has nothing to do with stigma. If you look at all [of] the 200 cases here in the U.S., over 95% are classified as gay, bisexual men having sex with men,” Mangla [told DC News Now].

But while many individuals receiving the vaccine support the city’s efforts to protect citizens of the looming outbreak, some residents hope for a more explicit narrative of the virus’ transmission risks, as promotion of the illness highlights demographics of the LGBT community.

“I wasn’t alive yet and this is not to compare to it but I think similar to the AIDS/HIV crisis in the 80’s, there is a lot of talk that it is only LGBT people who get it, which is not the truth,” Ward 5 resident Jarryd D. (last name requested to be withheld) shared while awaiting his appointment.

“I think it’s important for folks to realize that if you’re sexually active period, [you are also at risk],” he said. “Sure, it might be more prevalent in the LGBT community which I am a part of but I think there is a lot of negative connotation and we don’t need that – especially today when there is enough negativity about ‘being gay’ to begin with. It should be known that there is a risk of catching it no matter who you are.”

The CDC continues to work diligently with local health officials to help identify those people believed to have been in contact with other individuals who have tested positive for monkeypox and provide resources to monitor their health status. WI