Americans may have heard a lot about the “Chevron decision” in the news lately, although most probably wouldn’t be able to describe exactly what it is. It’s not common knowledge yet. And while Chevron may be a household name to people who fill up there, the Supreme Court’s recent decision overturning the legal principle of Chevron bias will soon become relevant and potentially pose a risk to every household in America.

The latest decision Loper Bright vs Raimondoa direct byproduct of former President Donald Trump’s packing of the court, overturned a 40-year-old precedent that had the American federal government, its agencies and scientists using their expertise to regulate things – like toxic chemicals that are harmful to human health – without having to go to court each time to interpret an aspect of a particular law.

Since this summer, however, this is no longer common practice. Loper Bright This decision transfers important decision-making powers to courts, judges and clerks who lack the scientific expertise to protect Americans from toxic chemicals and other dangers.

Increasingly partisan judges and their staffs, equally ignorant of the subject matter of a particular federal law, will now have the power to block measures they don’t like. We’ve seen this before. In one opinion, Supreme Court justices wrote that laughing gas, or nitrous oxide, was the chemical key to reducing ozone pollution, when it wasn’t even close to the right chemical compound. Justice Neil Gorsuch even posted the opinion online before realizing the error hours later.

This is a serious problem, which is why vigilance and diligence are so important right now. This will quickly become a problem for American households, particularly in three important areas.

The first point is food safety. Every year in the United States, nearly 50 million people become ill from foodborne illnesses, over 125,000 people are hospitalized, and about 3,000 Americans die. These deaths and hospitalizations are preventable. The Food Safety Modernization Act is intended to prevent foodborne illnesses, but after the Loper Bright With this ruling, the Food and Drug Administration’s experts can no longer do their job of protecting Americans from illness, hospitalization, and death. Food industry lobbyists can simply take them to court, where unqualified judges can rule regardless of the fact that they and their staff have no expertise in food safety. Unfortunately, this opens the floodgates to more foodborne illness, not fewer.

The second issue is water safety. Over the past few decades, the United States has implemented protections such as the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Clean Water Act, which have been supported by both administrations. These are good things. They help keep us safe. And we depend on government scientists to combat toxic pollutants, chemicals and other risks to our drinking water. That’s why we hire professional scientists to work for us, the taxpayers, to keep us safe. But after Loper Brightthis important work will be nearly impossible, and litigation will become much more frequent, challenging the drinking water protections that Americans have supported for years.

Finally Loper Bright Decision threatens our air safety and quality. For more than 50 years, the Clean Air Act has given federal scientists the parameters to impose pollution controls on industrial facilities so that Americans living near or downwind of them don’t breathe deadly pollutants, particulates, and toxins. It’s smart and safe. No community deserves dirty air, which causes a host of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, among other problems. For years, federal scientists were able to use their training and expertise to protect Americans’ public health. But thanks to the Supreme Court, that’s no longer possible. Now it’s up to unqualified judges and clerks who also have no expertise in the field to decide how much air pollution a state or industry can emit.

In short, because of the Supreme Court’s recent decision, our food, water and air may contain more pollutants and chemicals, more contaminants and poisons in the near future. That should be a big red flag for anyone who cares about their health, the health of their neighbors or the health of their community. Loper Bright will affect every household in America.

So the fight for a safer America is on, because the courts will soon begin to undermine the federal government’s ability to protect our food, water, air, and more. That means we need more public pressure on the private sector to do the right thing for Americans’ health. We need more individual awareness and action to ensure lawmakers can check the bad behavior of polluters. And we need to make sure those who appoint judges and the clerks who work for them have Americans’ health interests in mind.

When the public can no longer rely on government experts to provide clean air and water, the only winners are the polluters and the private sector that unconscionably supports them. The stakes are high. Now is not a time for subservience – it is a time for due diligence from all of us. Our food, water and air – and as a result, our health, livelihoods and future – are at risk.

Steve Cohen represents Tennessee’s ninth congressional district in the House of Representatives. Michael Shank is the engagement director for the Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance and an adjunct professor at the Center for Global Affairs at New York University.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author.