Environmental groups are on the defensive amid a Republican-led congressional redistricting blitz in the wake of last month’s Supreme Court decision on the Voting Rights Act and warning that new maps could disenfranchise voters in areas burdened by the impacts of pollution and climate change.
Republicans in at least four GOP-led states — Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee and South Carolina — are looking to unseat Democrats by gerrymandering to break up congressional districts in which a majority of the population are Black or another minority racial or ethnic group following the Louisiana v. Callais ruling.
The ruling struck down a Louisiana district because it was drawn to have mostly Black residents. Environmentalists including the League of Conservation Voters called the verdict “a distressing decision.”
“But it wasn’t unforeseen,” added Justin Kwasa, director of the League of Conservation Voters’ democracy project, during an interview. “There’s been a conscious attempt by the conservative Supreme Court to fully eliminate voting rights protections for Black communities.”
