GreenLatinos Celebrate Latest Defeat of Manchin’s Pollution Permitting Over People Bill, Acknowledge The Fight Isn’t Over

WASHINGTON - On Tuesday night, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) language was released without Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-WV) dirty side deal. This back-door negotiated bill allows polluters to more easily poison frontline communities, primarily Latino/a/e, Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color.

This is a victory for Latino/a/e and other communities of color at the forefront of the fight for environmental liberation. Despite the odds, our community will come together as many times as it takes to ensure the progress achieved on climate in 2022 does not include an ugly footnote.

Following the news of this initial victory, Founding President & CEO of GreenLatinos, Mark Magaña, releases the following statement:

“We’re relieved to discover that the NDAA bill text does not include Sen. Manchin’s pollution permitting dirty side deal bill.

This behind-closed-doors negotiation by Manchin and others was a tremendous slap in the face to the communities facing the brunt of the climate crisis. Insisting on forcing through a poison-pill bill via must-pass legislation is dangerous and irresponsible.

Despite the momentum this polluter wish list bill received in the leadership of both parties, our frontline comunidades came together again to defeat this bill. It should now be made clear that this bill is unpopular and unwanted. Moving forward, our community will be ready to organize against this polluter giveaway bill, whether presented as an amendment to the NDAA or attached to any other future legislation.

Instead, Congress should focus on the priorities of the communities disproportionately impacted by the climate crisis. These priorities include listening to the community solutions presented in the Latino Climate Justice Framework (LCJF) or working to pass permanent solutions to environmental injustice by making the Environmental Justice for All (EJ for All) Act law.

By enacting permanent solutions outlined in the LCJF or the EJ for All Act, our leaders can signal to frontline communities that they prioritize people, not poisonous polluters prioritizing profits.

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GreenLatinos is an active comunidad of Latino/a/x leaders, emboldened by the power and wisdom of our culture, united to demand equity and dismantle racism, resourced to win our environmental, conservation, and climate justice battles, and driven to secure our political, economic, cultural, and environmental liberation.

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GreenLatinos es una comunidad activa de líderes latinos/a/x, envalentonados por el poder y la sabiduría de nuestra cultura, unidos para exigir equidad y desmantelar el racismo, con recursos para ganar nuestras batallas ambientales, de conservación y de justicia climática, y impulsados a asegurar nuestra liberación política, económica, cultural y ambiental.