Talking Points
EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler’s tactics to silence tribes in Oklahoma and saddle them with toxic pollution are underhanded and unconscionable.
During a respiratory pandemic that is disproportionately harming communities of color, including tribal communities, Wheeler is continuing his push to silence frontline environmental communities and enable toxic polluters to prioritize profits over the health and livelihood of the American public.
Wheeler is providing corporate polluters with a legal and administrative pathway to environmental abuses on tribal lands, including dumping toxic materials like PCBs and petroleum spills, without any available recourse for those tribes.
This move will lead to pollution-borne sickness in parts of Oklahoma where healthcare infrastructure is already critically lacking, marking a failure to address or take responsibility for the years of genocide and persecution against America’s native tribes and worsening the pattern of oppression.
To add insult to injury, Tribal governments were not treated fairly throughout this process. The EPA failed to consult broadly or deeply enough with tribal authorities and even shirked its own protocol by not negotiating government to government.
This is nothing short of an environmental justice emergency.
Background
In a move that egregiously disregards environmental justice and tribal sovereignty, the EPA just granted the state of Oklahoma control over environmental issues on nearly all tribal lands, stripping Oklahoma’s 38 tribes of their sovereignty over these issues and opening their homes to toxic dumping.
The EPA’s decision also nullifies the landmark McGirt v. Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling that upheld tribal supremacy in much of eastern Oklahoma, negating one of the biggest victories for tribal sovereignty in recent years and eliminating a tool that would have helped tribes protect themselves from corporate polluters.
In Oklahoma, tribes have faced historical persecution, fighting an uphill battle for recognition and sovereignty for hundreds of years. In 2019 the state had the 4th largest petroleum industry of any state in the U.S. and has an overwhelmingly pro-fossil fuel government, which now has free reign to poison tribal lands through toxic dumping.
Through the Underground Injection Control program, this decision would permit fracking on native lands without the consent of the impacted tribes, representing a serious risk to tribal drinking water and agriculture.
The petroleum industry unfairly hid Gov. Stitt’s request to the EPA from Oklahoma’s tribes, trying to edge them out of negotiations so their rights would not be taken into account. The Petroleum Alliance of Oklahoma knew about Gov. Stitt’s letter on July 22, the day it was sent, yet tribes were not alerted until a month later, giving them insufficient time to respond and making the process a misuse of the EPA’s authority. An EPA Summary Report states that all tribes consulted said the consultation period was too short, and should have extended to tribes outside of Oklahoma. This goes against EPA guidelines stating government-to-government negotiations are required.
Tweet Thread to RT: https://twitter.com/jtlarsen/status/1313088281207287813?s=20
Tweet to RT: https://twitter.com/rgunns/status/1313153620720988164
What to say:
.@EPAAWheeler’s tactics to silence tribes in Oklahoma are underhanded and unconscionable. Just the latest example of this administration’s refusal to put #PeopleOverPolluters and this @EPA’s unwillingness to uphold its name by protecting the environment. https://news.yahoo.com/controversial-epa-decision-gives-oklahoma-174700763.html
By stripping Oklahoma tribes of their regulatory sovereignty, @EPAAWheeler continues to put people second and push polluter-friendly policies that will endanger vulnerable communities. This @EPA is selling its soul and hurting our ability to #ActOnClimate. https://news.yahoo.com/controversial-epa-decision-gives-oklahoma-174700763.html
Oklahoma tribes deserve the ability to protect their environment. Instead, @EPAAWheeler removed any legal recourse for tribes to seek justice for oil & gas companies dumping waste on their tribal lands. We need an @EPA that puts #PeopleOverPolluters. https://news.yahoo.com/controversial-epa-decision-gives-oklahoma-174700763.html