West Virginia v. EPA
Media sensationalism was alive and well today after the SCOTUS decision in W Virginia v. EPA. I saw many interpretations and opinions represented as “news”, many of them outright misleading. Some were reputable news source headlines, others from Instagram accounts of organizations and individuals. All of them triggered someone in their audience into feeling angry, scared, hopeless, anxious, or powerless.
At best, the intent of getting people emotionally activated by the news is in hopes of engaging them in political action. The logic goes that if people are upset, they will talk to their friends and family, protest, donate, and lobby. And while the first action is very likely for most, especially if their friends and family agree with them, the rest will be taken only by a small handful of people.
This leaves a whole lot of emotionally activated people upset and without a healthy venue to release their emotion. That’s where I can help.
If you are in distress over the EPA ruling, this is for you:
First, understand what the facts are. Is it really true that the SCOTUS decision will “take our country backwards”, or is that just President Biden’s opinion? Is the CNN headline “the Supreme Court ruling will gut the EPA's ability to fight the climate crisis” presenting the facts or an interpretation of the fact? This is where the tools of media literacy come in: learn to recognize opinions presented as news. “strips crucial tool”, “curbs ability to fight”, “catastrophic”: none of these headlines snippets from today are factual. They are just other people’s thoughts about the facts. Figuring out what is really true (as in, the facts with little to no interpretation) allows you to shed other people’s opinions and find out what you really think and feel about the matter.
Without reading the entire 89-page SCOTUS ruling, a close read of the facts is this: West Virginia argued that the EPA does not have congressional authorization to make federal regulations on energy production, and SCOTUS agreed, thus preventing the EPA from doing so at present moment. Is that less emotionally activating? Are the feelings you have as you read that more tolerable? Do you feel any less hopeless or powerless?
Maybe, maybe not. Even striped of other people’s opinions, you’re likely to not feel positively about the news. And that’s ok. It’s important to be aware of what you are thinking, because what you believe impacts how you feel, how you show up in the world, and what you do.
For example, you might be feeling depressed because you think that this is a major blow to climate action and that many people will die in the future because of it. But what does that gain you? How does that thought help? How does feeling depressed serve you, your community, or your environmental justice efforts? To be clear, I’m not saying it doesn’t: that’s for you to decide. I’m just asking you to be mindful and ask yourself these questions.
You have the agency to make up your own mind about the facts, even when presented sensationally. You have a choice about what you want to spend your energy believing (and therefore feeling). You have the power to decide what you want to do about it.
I feel disappointed by this ruling because I believe that every day that goes by without us lowering our carbon emissions will increase global warming and its impact on the environment. But I also believe that Congress will pass amendments to the Clean Air Act that not only authorizes but requires the EPA to regulate the energy industry to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. I also believe that this will encourage stronger regulations on industries the EPA does have broad regulatory authority over, such as motor vehicles.
I welcome Clean Air Act amendments. As someone who works in sustainable transportation policy, I often cite the Clean Air Act as an impediment to local climate change mitigation efforts. So in some ways, I am encouraged by what new laws will be inspired from today’s loss today. How might you feel encouraged and inspired about today’s news?
If you’re still feeling at a loss, I encourage you to book a free discovery call and I will help you find your answer.