On Earth Day, Booker, Duckworth, Lee, Grijalva, Tlaib Unveiled Bicameral Report Exposing 100 Trump Administration Failures Making Americans and the Environment Sicker on Earth Day

WASHINGTON, D.C. - On Earth Day, U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and Edward J. Markey (D-MA), and U.S. Representatives Summer Lee (D-PA-12), Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ-07), and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI-12)-Co-Chairs of the Senate and House Environmental Justice Caucuses-underscored how the Trump Administration's "Make America Healthy Again" mantra is yet another broken promise to the American people. At a press conference on Capitol Hill, the lawmakers officially unveiled their bicameral report card outlining one hundred different ways Donald Trump and his cabinet have rolled back environmental protections, silenced underserved communities, defunded federal programs, and decimated regulatory frameworks that are essential in protecting our nation's public health and the Earth-ultimately prioritizing polluters and profits while making millions of Americans sicker and setting the health of our environment back decades. The full press conference can be found here.

"From the first Earth Day over 50 years ago, Americans demanded clean air, clean water, and a livable environment, and the protections we rely on today were born from that movement," said Senator Cory Booker. "Now those hard won gains are being gutted by this Administration, and the consequences are falling hardest on vulnerable communities like my own neighborhood in Newark. This is a national emergency with real impacts on our health, our economy, and our basic well being. As we mark 250 years since declaring our independence, we must recommit to the fight for a beautiful, clean, safe environment for generations to come because every American has a right to breathe clean air, drink clean water, and live with dignity."

"There is something deeply wrong when Black children in Chicago are far more likely to die from asthma and families in 'Cancer Alley' are still living and dying next to toxic pollution-but if these issues aren't impacting his billionaire buddies, Donald Trump doesn't seem to care," said Senator Tammy Duckworth. "Trump and his Administration claim they're 'Making America Healthy Again,' but has been working overtime rolling back critical environmental protections, cutting funding and putting the wealth of corporate polluters before the health of the American people. Today, on Earth Day, our message is clear: an attack on our environment is an attack on our health, and we will keep fighting for the clean water and safe air all Americans deserve."

"On this Earth Day, when we should be able to appreciate the natural beauty that surrounds us and all of our past work to protect it, we are forced to defend our air, land, and water from an administration hellbent on making America sicker," said Senator Edward J. Markey. "I'm grateful to be working alongside my colleagues in the House and Senate Environmental Justice Caucuses in defense of a resilient, livable future for every zipcode in America. Today is a reminder of what we have to protect and the importance of the fight that lies ahead."

"In the communities I represent, families are already living with the consequences of decades of pollution, neglect, and now an administration making the climate crisis much worse," said Congresswoman Summer Lee. "Our neighbors are paying the price with their health, their homes, and their futures. That's why I'm proud to have helped launch the People's Environmental Justice Caucus in the House to ensure the voices of frontline communities drive the solutions. Environmental justice is simple and achievable: clean air, clean water, and a safe community for everyone."

"This report makes one thing clear: the Trump Administration has spent years putting polluters and profits over people-rolling back protections, silencing communities, and leaving families to bear the cost with their health," said Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva. "In Southern Arizona and across the country, we see the consequences every day. Environmental justice isn't optional-it's a matter of survival, and we're not going to stop fighting until every community has clean air, safe water, and a government that actually protects them."

"As the Trump administration guts the Environmental Protection Agency and eliminates our bedrock environmental protections, corporate polluters continue to decimate our planet for profit," said Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib. "We founded the People's Environmental Justice Caucus because we are sick and tired of our government sacrificing our families to give handouts to polluters. It's past time that frontline residents, like my neighbors in Michigan fighting concrete crushers and oil refineries, are able to bring their voices directly into the halls of Congress to challenge entrenched power."

"This Earth Day, we call on lawmakers to stand strong with communities on the frontlines of pollution & climate change and vocally oppose the Trump administration's rollbacks of environmental protections," said Dalal Aboulhosn, Managing Director for Programs & Policy, Center for Energy Earth and Democracy (CEED). "These rollbacks put corporate polluters first, while our communities pay a heavy price in terms of health and economic impacts. We commend Sen. Duckworth, Sen. Booker, Rep. Lee, Rep. Grijalva and Rep. Tlaib for championing environmental justice communities and holding the Trump administration accountable for rolling back environmental protections & investments."

"Environmental justice is the future of the movement Earth Day began. On the first Earth Day, 20 million people took to the streets to demand accountability for the pollution filling their bodies and neighborhoods. It worked-their voices were met with policies and agencies that moved us towards cleaner air, water, and land," said Leslie Fields, Chief Federal Officer, WE ACT for Environmental Justice. "A year into an attempt to weaponize environmental justice and rollback hard-earned wins, we know that attacks on our progress are the greatest proof of how powerful we are. Communities of color and lower income neighborhoods continue to be hit first and worst with pollution and climate disasters. We won't stop fighting policies that harm our communities, drive up energy bills, and worsen the climate crisis. We deserve and demand a government that protects our rights so we can all thrive."

As co-chairs of the Senate Environmental Justice Caucus, Booker, Duckworth, and Markey have long pushed to strengthen and defend environmental justice efforts across the country. Two months ago, the three Senators condemned Trump's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for rescinding the endangerment finding, a landmark determination requiring the EPA to address greenhouse gas emissions because of the threat climate change poses to public health and welfare. Last year, the three Senators condemned Republicans' cuts to environmental justice, and Booke and Duckworth condemned the Trump Administration for shutting down all of EPA's environmental justice offices and slashing over 30 EPA regulations that have helped protect our nation's public health and the environment for decades.

Booker, Duckworth, and Markey-along with U.S. Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE)-last year urged EPA Administrator Zeldin to reopen the EPA's Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights (OEJECR), which Booker and Duckworth led the charge to create. Booker, Duckworth, and Markey also helped introduce legislation that would permanently codify the Office of Environmental Justice within the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) in response to Attorney General Bondi's order eliminating all environmental justice efforts at the DOJ.

For years, Booker and Duckworth have also led the charge pushing for their A. Donald McEachin Environmental Justice For All Act-the most comprehensive environmental justice legislation in history-which would help achieve health equity and climate justice for all, particularly in underserved communities and communities of color that have long been disproportionately harmed by environmental injustices and toxic pollutants.