Pollution is Not a Right

There is no right to pollute. The United States government has no lawful authority to act in a way that removes protections against pollution of the physical environment or endangerment of human health.

A close reading of the Constitution of the United States, the Bill of Rights, and the remaining Amendments, makes clear the intention that protections of the wellbeing of all persons, and of vulnerable people in particular, should take precedence over the desire of people of influence to take actions that negatively impact such wellbeing.

The rights of people supersede the desires of those who wish to use public office to serve narrow or conflicted interests.

The First Amendment forbids Congress from making any law that would abridge the right of the people to seek redress for grievances. Executive action that reclassifies harmful behavior as less worthy of constraint naturally limits access to redress. Legislative support (including budgetarily) for agencies that behave in such a way violate this core Constitutional guarantee.

Wherever the executive branch acts to serve the interests of polluters, it effectively abuses executive authority. Congress has a responsibility to curtail such abuses, as a priority of its Constitutional responsibility.