View this email in your browser

Hello John,

Protecting the environment is of vital importance to me. I realize the threats to our environment are abundant and imminent. There is a tremendous amount of work to be done to protect our natural resources at a local, state, and national level.

As your Congresswoman, I will rely upon experts to inform my policy priorities, and I will fight for immediate action in our district.

My legal background and decades of advocacy experience will help me drive local initiatives and education and navigate the environmental policy that needs to be implemented at all levels to help support and bolster local efforts.

Let me Tell You a Story. . .

Lawyers and advocates often have to quickly become experts in a field they initially know little about. In August of 2018, I spent time with the Dilley Project representing immigrant mothers and their children being held in a detention center near the border in Dilley, Texas, during their show cause hearings for asylum.

An unforeseen issue we encountered was that as a visitor we were informed that the drinking water was contaminated with heavy metals due to nearby fracking. As visiting attorneys, we were allowed to bring our own bottled water with us each day into the extreme heat of the desert. However, we were warned by Core Civic, the private company running the detention facility, that if we were caught sharing our clean, bottled water with any of the detainees or their children, we would have our credentials permanently revoked.

Not only did I have to immediately come up to speed on asylum law, which I had never previously practiced, but also with aspects of fracking, water pollution and prisoners’ rights in order to file an injunction against Core Civic to force them to provide clean water to their detainees.

Detention Center Dilley, Texas | Dilley Project

We have big environmental battles to tackle, and I am ready to fight.

Here are the environmental priorities that I will champion if elected.

Reining in Unfettered Development: Uncontrolled development is a major issue because of its impact on the environment. Building codes in many counties have not been updated to account for naturally changing landscapes and outdated infrastructure. Rapid development practices lead to excess run-off of water occurring as a result of frequent major rain events or extreme storms. While controlled, responsible development is necessary to continue to bolster our economy, unfettered development needs to be reined in with legislation, infrastructure planning and a commitment to leverage sustainable, environmentally-friendly options for growth.

Halting Environmental Injustice & Racism: Superfund sites and landfills with borrow pits such as those found in the Wedgewood and Rolling Hills neighborhoods of Pensacola have become a problematic legacy of flooding and contamination, which present a severe health risk for many residents–many of whom have already died due to this legacy. Left unregulated, these contaminated pits will continue seeping into the aquifer causing harm to families who live nearby. We need to ensure that the needs of the impacted communities are a priority for the state agencies involved and that our communities - especially those of color – are no longer targeted and harmed by these practices.

Protecting Our Natural Resources: The lifeblood of the Panhandle is our natural resources. From the beaches to the farmland, these resources provide tourism, recreation, and economic vibrancy. We must protect our coast from threats both immediate and long-term. Climate change is real and it is impacting our community. If predicted rises in sea level and temperature prove to be accurate, by the year 2050, our coast will experience a 2-to-10 foot rise in sea level. This type of catastrophic change would render our beaches and coastal towns no longer viable places to live. The seasonal crops, timber, livestock and fishing industries that we rely upon will be permanently harmed. It is time to put legislation in place that will help ward off further erosion of our coveted natural resources and help our coastal communities thrive.

My experience in Texas is one of many that has helped me do what I do best - identify problems, become an expert quickly, and take action to protect those in need.

Our environment needs protecting.

I'd be honored if you'd vote for me, Peggy Schiller, in the primary on 8/23 and again on 11/8, so that I can represent you and our coveted environment in Washington.

Donate Today >

Thank you for your support.

Peggy

Paid for by the Committee to Elect Peggy Schiller.

Peggy Schiller for U.S. Congress
174 Watercolor Way
Suite 103, Box 203
Santa Rosa Beach, FL 32459
[email protected]
peggyforthepanhandle.com

Copyright © 2022. The Committee to Elect Peggy Schiller. All rights reserved.

You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.