Lawmakers Cherry-pick Outdated EPA Data in Effort to Undermine Environmental Justice Grant Programs

Last year, Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act, which authorizes sweeping investments and policies to tackle the climate crisis and advance environmental justice. This historic bill invests nearly $3 billion in the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Climate and Environmental Justice Block Grants, expanding funding for existing environmental justice grant programs and creating new opportunities.

Now, several conservative lawmakers are attempting to create roadblocks by using outdated EPA data to try to sow doubt and suspicion about these programs.

Broadly, these grants will support projects that aim to reduce harms to public health and the environment from climate change and pollution. Past funded projects include filtering lead out of household drinking water, preventing illegal waste dumping in Indigenous communities, and training farmworkers on…