A Renewed Call for Local Environmental Activism

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Smoke stacks at the Cleveland-Cliffs Northshore Mining Company in Silver Bay, Minnesota. The facility’s pollutants and emissions include CO2, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), ammonia, lead, and mercury. Under the EPA’s proposed new environmental policies, pollution from plants such as this may no longer be regulated by the EPA nor will other states be able to appeal to the EPA if their pollutants cross state boundaries. Photo by Tony Webster, Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons license.

Like many Americans who care about the environment, we here at the Jonah Center are deeply concerned about recent proposed changes to America’s environmental laws by the new EPA Administrator, Lee Zeldin, which were announced earlier this month. These proposals appear to be part of a dramatic shift in the federal government’s approach to environmental regulation by reducing or eliminating regulations restricting pollutants in order to promote the greater use of fossil fuels and limiting the development of clean energy and anything else related to climate change mitigation. Unfortunately, these proposals may have a dramatic impact on our nation’s ability to maintain clean air and water and make it harder to address climate change or support clean energy.

In case you missed it, here are a few of the recent changes proposed by the administration:

  • The repeal of many core environmental regulations designed to protect the environment and human health, including regulations limiting pollution from tailpipes, smoke stacks, coal power plants, greenhouse gases, protections for wetlands, and restrictions on mercury and carbon dioxide emissions.
  • The withdrawal of $20 billion in grants from the EPA for climate-change related research or projects, including support for clean energy generation and energy efficiency.
  • The removal of most information and data related to climate change from government websites, including full deletion from the EPA website. Also, restricting the ability to consider disasters such as increased floods, wildfires, and droughts as potentially caused by climate change.
  • Reducing the staff at EPA by 65% making it nearly impossible for the agency to enforce the Clean Water and Clean Air Acts – congressionally mandated acts that are the backbone of our nation’s environmental protection laws.
  • The dismantling of the EPA’s Office of Research and Development and the firing of over 1,000 research scientists, effectively eliminating the ability of the EPA to research the condition of our environment nationally.

Again, these are only a few of the new changes and mandates proposed. Collectively, they are described by Lee Zelden, the new head of the EPA, as the “largest deregulatory announcement in US history.”  They also work to undermine 55 years of work by congress and previous presidents, both democrat and republican, to develop effective research and regulations to support clean air and water, clean energy, and addressing the world-wide concerns about climate change. While it is uncertain how far these changes will go or if some of them can be successfully challenged, the full impact of these changes may be felt for many years. 

But there is one thing that seems clear for those of us who do care about the environment and accept the overwhelming scientific evidence about climate change: we must now concentrate our efforts on the local and state levels instead.

This is exactly what we have been doing at the Jonah Center for the past 20 years. By working with local towns and state representatives we have successfully advocated for initiatives where we can make a difference locally. A few of these efforts include reducing the use of hazardous chemicals, stopping the approval of a polluting NRG fossil-fuel power plant in Middletown; promoting recycling efforts, advocating for non-motorized transportation options such as safe walking, biking paths and trails in Middlesex county; planting trees in urban areas in Middletown and Portland; organizing neighborhood litter cleanups; clearing invasive species from local rivers and ponds along the Connecticut River, and facilitating clean energy and energy efficiency use for local residents. 

At a recent gathering of Jonah Center staff and board members, we renewed our commitment to making a difference on the state and local level – in our case, the state of Connecticut and the greater Middletown area. Because of concerns about climate change, we are increasing our focus on clean energy and energy efficiency, the single greatest contributor to stopping global warming through greenhouse gases, according to climate scientists. But whether or not you care about climate change, these efforts also help residents save money in energy costs. And we are continuing to advocate for safe, non-motorized transportation options such as walking, biking, and trail use – all of which benefit us in many healthy ways in addition to reducing motorized vehicle use and pollution.

We hope you will continue to support us in these efforts. Check out the “Get Involved” page on our website to see how you can help and subscribe to our monthly email newsletter for further updates.

For a full list of deregulations proposed by the EPA, see here:

https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-launches-biggest-deregulatory-action-us-history