Ask Your Elected Officials to Protect the EPA

Earlier this month, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fl) sponsored bill H. R. 861, “To terminate the Environmental Protection Agency”. The mission of the EPA is to protect public health and the environment. The EPA was established in 1970 via an Executive Order signed by Republican President Richard Nixon, and ratified by committee hearing in Congress; it was born out of increasing concerns over the effects of environmental pollutants. After Congress passes legislation, the agency writes and enforces the regulations that turn law into practice.

Currently the bill is in the House, so contact your Representatives. This script can be adapted for postcards or phone calls.

I’m calling to urge Representative ___________ to oppose H. R. 861, which seeks to abolish the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA not only funds vital research on the effects of environmental toxins — such as recent studies showing a link between air pollution and dementia — but it also helps Congress put its legislative intent into action across the country, writing and enforcing the regulations that ensure that the legislation you pass every year has a measurable, positive effect on your constituents’ lives. We have already seen, in Flint Michigan, what happens when EPA regulations are disregarded — and how difficult it is to correct that damage. Please protect the EPA so that it can continue to protect us.