Dear John, 

In the nearly first two months of the Trump administration, we've seen relentless attacks on decades of hard-fought environmental protections that have cleaned our air and water and protected our people. 

We’ve also seen actions to undermine and terminate many of the government experts who have dedicated their lives to make our air, water and climate cleaner and safer and who have helped protect the most vulnerable communities in the U.S. and around the world. 

You should know our team of staff, partners, donors and activists are driven by a simple but powerful promise: We will protect the values we share. And with your ongoing engagement and support, we're determined to protect the progress we've made. 

You have never been more important to our work. You and our community of more than 3.5 million donors and activists make everything we do possible. And I gain enormous confidence and strength knowing you are standing with us. We need each other now more than ever. 

With your support, our strategies include:
 

Creating transparency to hold the administration accountable. We will shine a light on unlawful administration actions through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) filings and immediate litigation if necessary to compel the required production of government records, as well as through extensive research and analysis that is made available to journalists and other outlets.
 

Swift litigation to block unlawful actions. We will file lawsuits in strategically chosen cases to protect vital limits on pollution, the rule of law and critical government functions related to climate priorities. We're already undertaking numerous lawsuits that are crucial to protecting the most important regulatory actions that limit huge sources of climate and air pollution. 
 

Make our case to everyone. The jobs created by the Inflation Reduction Act are helping thousands of communities, most in conservative areas of the country. People across the country want clean air and water – and solutions to the extreme weather and devastating storms that are driven by climate change. We’ll make the case to politicians of both parties that it’s in their constituents’ interest not to throw away the investments we’ve made.
 

Coordinated communications to spotlight benefits of sound policy and dangers of legal attacks on health and the environment. We will establish a coordinated communications hub with our partners that provides disciplined and compelling messages showing how federal environmental protections are important and relevant to people’s lives, and how efforts to undermine these protections harm the American people.
 

Innovation in forging next generation climate and environmental protections. Under the threat that the Trump administration poses to environmental law or its bedrock protections, we must work to develop next-generation solutions to ensure climate progress is in alignment with science. We will collaborate closely with our partners to ensure that legal principles and the rule of law itself endure.

These are just a few of the actions we're taking to stand up to this unprecedented assault on our bedrock environmental protections and climate progress. We will be vigilant in defending science, the rule of law and core clean air, clean water, clean energy, clean transportation and other standards that save lives and unleash the innovation we need to grow the U.S. economy and keep people safe.

With your continued support, we will remain steadfast. And, while we expect setbacks, we will protect all that we can and look for new and innovative ways to continue to make progress both here in the U.S. and around the world. There remain opportunities for great progress on climate which we will continue to pursue, and we will keep you updated and engaged on the most effective ways you can help.

Thank you for your commitment to a cleaner, safer and more sustainable and prosperous future. 

Sincerely, 

Fred Krupp 
President, Environmental Defense Fund

P.S. As we were preparing to send this message, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced plans to attack dozens of America's most successful and vital environmental protections addressing industrial pollution.

Rather than helping our economy, these actions will hurt people, cost jobs, increase pollution and create chaos. With your support, we will vigorously oppose these unlawful attacks.