Anyone paying attention to the recent Supreme Court decisions should be outraged. According to the Court, rioters cannot be charged with interrupting an official proceeding with a bloody coup since they didn’t destroy paperwork. On January 6th, we watched the interference of official proceedings to ratify the 2020 elections. The Court now claims that documents must be destroyed or altered to prosecute interference.
Early, the Court made a controversial decision, declaring kickbacks to corrupt politicians acceptable as long as they happen after the corrupt action. Such after-the-fact gifts are now considered a legal “gratuity,” an outrageous and unjust ruling.
They also blocked the EPA from controlling interstate ozone pollution. The 1970 Clean Air Act, passed in the Senate 100-0, placed the Federal government in the critical role of regulating interstate and cross-boundary pollution. This undermines the EPA’s ability to control pollution.
The Chevron Rule is also gone. The court has undermined all agencies’ ability to write and interpret rules to implement statutes.
Where we go from here is an open question.
About Larry Schweiger
Larry Schweiger is an award-winning author of "Last Chance: Preserving Life on Earth" and "Climate Crisis and Corrupt Politics" He is the Past President and Chief Executive Officer of Citizens for National Wildlife Federation, PennFuture, and Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. Larry also served as the Executive Secretary of the Joint (House and Senate) Air and Water Pollution Control and Conservation Committee of the Pennsylvania General Assembly and 1st Vice President of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
He returned to the National Wildlife Federation in March 2004 with a commitment to confront the climate crisis. Passionate about protecting nature for our children's future, Larry continues the climate work as a board member of Climate Reality and One Green Thing.
As CEO of the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, Larry pioneered watershed restoration and promoted ecological research, land conservation, community outreach, and Fallingwater restoration.
In the past, Larry was Senior Vice President for Conservation Programs at National Wildlife Federation, and 1st Vice President of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
Larry wrote a book warning about climate change impacts on nature entitled: "Last Chance: Preserving Life on Earth" that won 1st Prize for the best non-fiction and Best Science at the 2011 Indie Book Awards.
Larry started volunteering at age 14 and is an active community leader, having served on more than 40 governing boards, commissions, and committees.
In 2012, He was honored by the Blue-Green Alliance for the Federation's leadership on the auto rules and was selected as Pennsylvania’s Environmental Professional of the Year in 2002, Pittsburgh of the Year in 2000, and he received a Conservation Service Award from the Christian Environmental Association in September 1995.
Larry is married to his wife Clara and is blessed with three daughters a son-in-law and five grandsons.
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