A little over a year ago, in the early days of the second Trump administration, I authored a blog about the challenges ahead of us. I encouraged everyone to focus on the work rather than the noise from the White House.
Re-reading that blog now I marvel at my confidence in government processes. And I wince at how I underestimated the time and effort folks would have to spend to defend (often over and over again) their legitimate federal contracts.
It has been a tough year that tests the effectiveness of our institutions. So many talented people are spending their time trying to preserve legal contracts instead of doing the work. I thrive on results so this is my worst nightmare. Multiple times this year I thought things could not get worse and then it got worse. Another program under attack, chaos in our streets.
And now the administration has revoked the 2009 Endangerment Finding. They assert that greenhouse gas emissions are not a threat to public health and welfare and, further: EPA also separately concludes that its regulations have not and cannot have any material impact on global climate change concerns, rendering them futile and providing another basis for today’s action.
The science is clear, of course, on both points. Greenhouse gas emissions are a substantial threat to public health and welfare, as evidenced by the various climate crisis unfolding across the globe. Further, science is clear that everything we do to cut emissions matters, especially in this critical decade. (It is also important to acknowledge that the US cumulative contribution to emissions remains bigger than that of any other nation; as the largest emitter in history, nothing we do to address this issue is futile.)
Years ago my daughter-in-law gifted me a cross-stich that says “Nevertheless she persisted,” a phrase inspired by Senator Elizabeth Warren. I have the piece in a prominent spot at home, I see it every day. And I do persist. And I want you to persist. But I also want you to know that I recognize that it is hard, that sometimes it feels impossible. Sometimes we need to take a break.
In the difficult moments like this one I think about the people who will suffer most from these misguided decisions. Air pollution will increase most quickly in Environmental Justice areas where people have long lived with higher levels of pollution. Vulnerable populations—the very young, the aged, people with chronic conditions—will suffer more health crises than other folks. As much as these are attacks on climate they are also attacks on public health and equity. These federal actions exacerbate the climate-related inequities that so many people have been working to resolve.
And that fires me up. Yes, I’m tired of the constant noise but I’m also angry at how these actions will hurt vulnerable populations.
So I persist. And I hope you will persist too.
Kathy is the Director of the Dane County’s Office of Energy and Climate Change. In that role she's leading efforts to implement the Climate Action Plan. Prior to coming to Dane County, Kathy led Cool Choices and, prior to that, she led Wisconsin's Focus on Energy program.
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