BlueGreen Alliance | Statement: Court Decisions Pave Way for Continued Progress to Create Good Jobs, Protect Environment

Statement: Court Decisions Pave Way for Continued Progress to Create Good Jobs, Protect Environment

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia today released their decisions in pivotal court cases before the court earlier this year. The following is a statement from BlueGreen Alliance Executive Director David Foster:

June 26, 2012

Labor-Environmental Partnership Supports Federal Court Decision Upholding Environmental Protections 

WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 26, 2012) The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia today released their decisions in pivotal court cases before the court earlier this year. The cases all centered on the use of the Clean Air Act by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to protect the environment by limiting greenhouse gas pollution from a variety of sources.

The non-partisan, three-judge panel unanimously and vigorously upheld the EPA’s endangerment finding, which establishes the scientific case for EPA to use the Clean Air Act to protect the public from the dangers of climate change. In addition, the Court also upheld vital, job-creating clean car standards and certain pollution permit requirements.

The following is a statement from BlueGreen Alliance Executive Director David Foster:

“We applaud the wisdom of the circuit court to allow important protections implemented or proposed by the EPA to move forward.

“In particular, the vehicle fuel economy standards are a win for the environment and for workers. A recent report from the BlueGreen Alliance shows the proposed 54.5 mpg fuel-efficiency standards for light-duty vehicles will create 50,000 jobs in the auto manufacturing sector and 570,000 jobs overall by 2030. They will also reduce imports of foreign oil, pollution that is causing climate change, and put more money back into the pockets of American families.

“Clean air, clean water, and a stable climate are essential to achieving economic growth and prosperity for middle-class Americans. Now, the EPA can continue to work to protect our environment with common sense solutions. We hope that this will also spur Congress to act on complementary measures to ensure we put forth a comprehensive effort to address climate change, and so we can compete and win good jobs in the industries of the 21st century — renewable energy, transportation, energy efficiency, manufacturing, broadband Internet and smart grid, recycling, and greener and safer chemicals and products — against the rest of the world.”