Stand Up, Dig In
Monday morning, just as I was getting settled into the work week, one email in particular caught my eye. It was a press release from the Environmental Protect Agency, with an unmistakably Trumpish subject line: “What They Are Saying: EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin to Unleash American Greatness as Head of EPA.” I took the bait and clicked, only to find more than 40 quotes from Republican lawmakers and industry insiders singing the praises of the newly confirmed Zeldin. The email sent me down a rabbit hole. I’d been avoiding news of the EPA’s rapid transformation as much as one can in this line of work, but no longer. I decided to dig in — and there was, of course, a lot to dig into. Since Trump took office a month ago, all members of the EPA’s clean air and science advisory boards have been dismissed. Its diversity, equity, and inclusion staff have been placed on administrative leave. Former Dupont executives and industry lobbyists have been appointed to leadership positions within the agency’s chemical oversight division. Earlier this week, more than 1,100 employees received notice that they could be immediately terminated. On Wednesday, news broke that Trump was expected to close the agency’s Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights, which supports communities particularly vulnerable to pollution, and just yesterday 168 of the office’s employees were put on leave. The Trump administration has placed a partial gag order on public communications, removed prominent online references to climate change, and done away with the agency’s online environmental justice mapping tool, too. There’s little doubt that these changes, and the inevitable regulatory rollbacks that are to follow, will do much harm to our land, our health, and our communities. This is all happening in addition to the countless other blows the administration is dealing to communities around the world through its policies on immigration, transgender rights, foreign aid, and more. It’s bleak, and it’s hard to find a silver lining. Still, part of me feels relieved after wading through the news. I’ve managed, finally, to push past avoidance. Now that I’ve begun processing the situation, I feel energized by the emerging resistance, including the lawsuits that have already started flowing, the community organizing that’s taking place, and our own work here at the Journal, reporting on people offering a vision for a better world. Those are stories I can dig into.
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