BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 8, 2022
The U.S. Supreme Court has upended the Clean Air Act through West Virginia v. EPA. Thirteen million people die annually from preventable climate-related causes, a number now effectively endorsed by an alleged pro-life judiciary. The Clean Air Act was spearheaded by Maine’s own Sen. Ed Muskie more than 50 years ago and was among this country’s first — and most successful — climate acts. It has reduced air pollution by 70 percent, prevented hundreds of thousands of early deaths and its economic benefits outweigh costs more than 30 to 1. At a time when we need explicit climate action, the Supreme Court prioritizes myopic goals that push national decarbonization further out of reach while bringing about more deaths, economic harm and insecurity. ~ Susana Hancock, Freeport