December 17, 2020
Western Resource Advocates President Jon Goldin-Dubois today praised the groundbreaking nominations of Michael Regan to be Environmental Protection Agency Administrator and U.S. Rep. Deb Haaland, D-N.M., to serve as Secretary of the Interior Department.
If confirmed, Regan would be the first Black man to head the EPA, and Haaland would be the first Indigenous woman to lead Interior, an agency that oversees tribal lands and manages a fifth of the nation’s lands, much of them in the Intermountain West.
“Congratulations to Michael Regan and Representative Haaland on their well-deserved nominations to head the EPA and Interior Department. As the president of an organization working every day for healthy air and water, connected and protected lands, and urgent climate action, we welcome these two highly qualified nominees. Their high-level expertise and critically important perspectives about how systemic environmental racism impacts under-resourced communities and communities of color is sorely needed after four years of destructive environmental policies that risked the health and safety of all Americans, especially the most vulnerable among us.
“The challenge these two nominees – and the entire Biden-Harris administration – face is huge. Science tells us that we have a window of three to five years to put in place major policies to reduce carbon pollution to prevent the rivers, lands, wildlife, and communities that we love from suffering irreparable damage. While these conditions affect all of us, the worst impacts of climate change are cruel, and they discriminate against People of Color, and against people in each of our communities who don’t have the resources or the ability to pick up and move to higher ground or protect themselves from air pollution or high temperatures. It is time to triple-down on climate action, and we welcome the opportunity to partner with the EPA and the Interior Department and our states and communities to get this work done.”
Contact
Jennifer Talhelm, 505-501-7781, jennifer.talhelm@westernresources.org
