A massive piece of legislation – cheekily dubbed the “One Big Beautiful Bill” – is gaining momentum in Congress. On May 22, House Republicans passed their version of the “One Big Beautiful Bill” with a vote of 215-214. Currently the Senate is making revisions to the House passed version, while aiming to pass this major piece of legislation by July 4th. Marketed by Republicans as a bold leap forward on energy and infrastructure, its backers promise jobs, innovation, and economic growth. But beneath the surface of this shiny sales pitch is a deeply flawed package that threatens the health, safety, and rights of the very communities our policies should protect.
This bill is not beautiful for those who live daily with the consequences of pollution, systemic disinvestment, and climate vulnerability. It’s dangerous for our frontline, fenceline, and environmental justice communities. It poses more barriers for immigrant communities, along with restrictions and requirements for programs like Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to name a few. It is a step backward for environmental justice.
At a time when scientists, communities, and youth are pleading for a transition to clean energy and policies that put people first, this bill doubles down on dirty fuels. It expands subsidies and tax breaks for oil, gas, and petrochemical industries, accelerates permitting for pipelines and refineries, and greenlights more extraction on public lands.
Worse still, these projects almost always land in communities that are already overburdened by pollution – Black, Brown, Indigenous, and low-income neighborhoods. They’re the first to suffer and the last to be heard. There’s nothing “beautiful” about more flares in the sky or toxins in the soil.
Rolling back Environmental Justice Protections & Programs
The proposed rollbacks of environmental justice funding in the “One Big Beautiful Bill” would severely harm frontline communities that have long borne the brunt of pollution, underinvestment, and environmental neglect. Programs currently at risk were designed to address decades of systemic inequities by directing resources toward marginalized neighborhoods, many of which are disproportionately impacted by toxic air, contaminated water, and poor infrastructure. Gutting these initiatives would not only reverse historic progress but also send a clear signal that the health and well-being of low-income communities and communities of color are negotiable in budget politics.
Moreover, eliminating funds from climate resiliency projects undermines local efforts to create sustainable, high-quality jobs and build cleaner, safer environments. These programs are more than just environmental initiatives, they represent economic opportunity, public health protections, and community-driven innovation. Rolling back environmental justice investments now would cut off a vital lifeline for communities seeking to build resilience in the face of worsening climate impacts like extreme heat, flooding, and wildfire smoke. This kind of disinvestment reinforces the very injustices environmental justice programs aim to repair and threaten to stall momentum toward a just and equitable clean energy transition.
Another insidious aspect of this bill is its attack on the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), a foundational environmental justice tool. The bill allows corporations to pay to pollute. A project sponsor can pay a fee to receive expedited environmental reviews. NEPA gives communities the right to know about and speak out against projects that affect their lives. By weakening environmental review and limiting public participation, this bill silences the very people most at risk. Streamlining permitting critical infrastructure projects shouldn’t mean steamrolling over communities.
Protecting Community Voices
Environmental justice means centering the leadership of those who are most impacted. But instead of engaging tribal governments and community leaders as decision-makers, the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill” undermines their sovereignty and authority. It limits legal challenges, restricts environmental justice assessments, and puts power firmly in the hands of polluters and profit-seekers.
This bill doesn’t just ignore community voices, it actively pushes them out of the conversation. The bill includes oil, gas and coal leasing handouts – offering up our precious public lands and water for further extraction.
True “energy security” and long term climate resilience will not come from business as usual. They must come from the ground up, through community-owned initiatives in renewable energy, equitable transit, green housing, investments in care and repair, and more.
This was an opportunity to fund the future: good-paying union jobs in clean industries, support for displaced workers, and investment in communities that have carried the cost of pollution for generations. Instead, the “One Big Beautiful Bill” reaffirms the past. It subsidizes the fossil fuel economy, deepens environmental racism, and treats frontline communities as sacrifice zones.
Environmental justice isn’t optional. It’s essential. And any legislation that fails to center the lived experience, expertise, and needs of impacted communities is not worthy of support, no matter how “beautiful” its branding.
Take Action: What You Can Do
We urge members of Congress to vote no on the “One Big Beautiful Bill.” We demand better. We need a future that’s regenerative, just, and powered by the people, not polluters.
Call your representative. Organize with your neighbors. Keep showing up. Because real beauty lies in justice, and our communities deserve nothing less.
Dalal Aboulhosn is Senior Director of Program & Policy at Center for Earth, Energy & Democracy (CEED). She has worked with multiple Presidential Administrations, Members of Congress and numerous frontline communities across the country on energy, conversation and justice issues.