Preemption is more of a threat than ever. To help communities respond, we’ve updated our preemption resources. Learn about preemption and how you can protect local power to protect and advance healthy communities.

What is preemption? It’s a legal tool used by powerful industries to weaken the ability of cities and towns to protect community members and fight climate change. Industries use state preemption to prevent local governments from addressing a range of local concerns: phasing out natural gas, reducing exposure to pesticides, affordable housing, living wages, as well as many more topics that are key to climate equity. Sometimes the federal government uses preemption to control state policy. The resources below are designed to help advocates, community members, and other stakeholders understand what preemption is and how to work together to defeat preemption efforts, so we can continue our work toward just and thriving communities.

Preemption Infobrief

This infobrief explains what preemption is, how it is being used to threaten climate equity and other important policy areas, why preemption matters for democracy and frontline communities, and what we can do about it.

Preemption Factsheet

This factsheet provides a brief introduction to the concept of preemption and how it threatens climate equity policy goals.