This week, a coalition of 13 attorneys general issued Multistate Guidance affirming the necessity and legality of environmental justice initiatives to ensure a healthy environment for all people to live, play, learn, work and worship.
Despite attempts by the Trump administration to eliminate this critical work by businesses, nonprofits, and other organizations as illegal through the use of Executive Orders, the attorneys general are pushing back.
The coalition of attorneys general issued its Multi-State Guidance Affirming the Importance and Legality of Environmental Justice Inititative. https://www.mass.gov/doc/multi-state-guidance-affirming-the-importance-and-legality-of-environmental-justice-initiatives/download
In part, they write:
The federal actions attacking environmental justice have created concerns about – but do not impact – the continued legality and importance of environmental justice efforts. These actions include several executive orders issued by President Trump, as well as memoranda issued by United States Attorney General Pam Bondi. These federal actions inaccurately label environmental justice and diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility activities as “illegal discrimination.” They rescind prior executive orders embedding environmental justice principles throughout federal administrative programs. They discontinue enforcement actions aimed at addressing disproportionate environmental burdens and terminate federal environmental justice programs and funding. The recent federal actions also direct the United States Department of Justice to de-prioritize environmental justice in its enforcement work and to take actions to stop the enforcement of state environmental justice laws that the United States Attorney General deems illegal. These actions cloud the meaning of environmental justice and the legality of the work itself. But the limited effect of these actions is clear: the President cannot alter the laws passed by Congress, nor can his executive orders or agency memoranda change the protections afforded by the Constitution or state law. Additionally, while complementary, environmental justice is a distinct concept that addresses distinct challenges from diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. Like the best practices for workplace diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility addressed in the February 2025 guidance from multiple state attorneys general, the advancement of environmental justice is not only lawful but also benefits the public.
The Attorneys General of California, Massachusetts and New York led the effort to issue the multi-state guidance. The Attorneys General of Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont joined to form the 13-member coalition. Together, they stand “committed to pursuing environmental justice and enforcing related laws in our jurisdictions.”
- Join your neighbors and friends on Friday, June 20th from noon to 1 pm
at the intersection of East Alameda and Sandoval for the weekly one-hour peaceful protest for nuclear disarmament and against expanded plutonium pit production at LANL. Join with Veterans for Peace, CCNS, Nuclear Watch NM, Loretto Community, New Mexico Peace Fest, Pax Christi and others. Bring your flags, signs and banners in support of nuclear weapons disarmament.
- Watch the “Television Event”
2:13 minute trailer at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S5RGRsTwjM It is about the television movie of the week during about nuclear war during the Reagan administration.
- Thursday, June 26th from 4 to 5 pm MT –
Union of Concerned Scientists invites you to a training webinar on how to submit a comment to ensure NNSA fully considers the public and environmental risks that come with planned expanded plutonium pit production.
Comment periods help increase transparency to the public, and it is crucial that the NNSA and the US Department of Energy hear from scientists, experts, and community members like you. See UCS’s 4-page fact sheet at: https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2025-05/Plutonium%20Pit%20Production_ES.pdf
Training webinar registration at: https://secure.ucs.org/a/2025-6-26-peis-comment-training-2
- Thursday, July 10th from 12:30 pm to 5:30 pm ET; 10:30 am to 3:30 pm MT –
From Trinity to Today: Nuclear Weapons and the Way Forward, a hybrid event. Registration is required to attend. You can register to attend in-person or on-line
The Arms Control Association and Win Without War invite you to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the atomic age through a three panel series that highlights the impacts of the bomb and showcases the role citizen campaigns have had in changing the course of nuclear history.
Join one or all the three panel series:
-
- Toxic and Radioactive Legacy of Nuclear Use, Production, Testing
- The Role of Citizens in Reducing the Nuclear Danger
- Today’s Nuclear Dangers/Consequences of Nuclear War
For more information and registration: https://www.armscontrol.org/From_Trinity_to_Today
- Friday, July 11th from 6 pm MT to Saturday, July 12th to 6 pm –
Fourth Annual 24-hour Peace Wave – addressing the need to abolish nuclear weapons. Peace Wave is a 24-hour long Zoom featuring live peace actions in the streets and squares of the world, moving around the globe with the sun. The Peace Wave visits dozens of location around the globe and includes rallies, concerts, production of artworks, blood drives, installations of peace poles, dances, speeches, and public demonstrations of all variety.
To sign up to watch Peace Wave, to embed the sign-up on your website, to watch the past three years’ peace waves, and to answer most questions, go to https://24hourpeacewave.org To discuss including your live event in the Peace Wave, email info@worldbeyondwar.org
- Sunday, July 13th –
Interfaith Remembrance of the Trinity Test: 80 Years and Still Waiting – doors open at 2 pm and event starts at 2:30 to 5 pm, at St. Pius X School, 5301 St. Josephs Drive NW, Albuquerque, NM. 80 year ago the U.S. government did not warn New Mexicans about the atomic bomb Trinity Test. To this day, downwinders of the first atomic bomb test have never been acknowledged or compensated. Today we are locked in a second nuclear arms race and again New Mexico plays a crucial role. It is long overdue that the nuclear powers honor their promises in international treaties to rid the world of the most dangerous weapons.
Free event — all are welcome, pre-registration is encouraged. RSVP here.
- Monday, July 14th –
public comments due to NNSA about the scope of the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Plutonium Pit Production.
- Wednesday, July 16th –
80th Anniversary of the first atomic bomb test at the Trinity Test Site in New Mexico. See Chapter 10, “The Trinity Test,” in the Final Report of the Los Alamos Historical Document Retrieval and Assessment (LAHDRA) Project at https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/131522 Chapter 10 provides one of the most comprehensive reports of the Trinity Test written by the scientists who reviewed actual LANL documentation for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- Wednesday, July 16th –
46th Anniversary of United Nuclear Corporation Church Rock Uranium Mill Tailings Spill. For more information, see https://ananuclear.org/church-rock-uranium-spill-july-16-1979/
- SAVE THE DATE – SATURDAY, JULY 19TH at 7:30 am –
46TH ANNUAL URANIUM MILL TAILINGS SPILL COMMEMORATION HELD IN RED WATER POND ROAD COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION. https://swuraniumimpacts.org/
Each year, the community of Red Water Pond hosts a commemoration of the uranium mill tailings spill that took place 46 years ago and continues to impact local community members. These gatherings include speakers, tabling, a silent auction, and a walk commemorating the spill. https://swuraniumimpacts.org/red-water-pond-road-community-association/