Our Executive Director, Michael Green, contributed an opinion piece to The Hill, arguing that business leaders must stand up for science. Here’s a sneak peek.
“April 22, 1970 was an exceptional day. Twenty million Americans took to the streets for nationwide rallies to demand a healthy planet. The country achieved rare political alignment, drawing support from Republicans and Democrats alike.
The first Earth Day triggered the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts by the end of that year.
Those coast-to-coast rallies laid the foundation for decades of influential efforts to address climate change, most recently with the passage of the Clean Power Plan and commitment to the Paris Agreement on climate change. But fast forward to present day and we’re seeing these instrumental laws and institutions put in jeopardy.
The Trump administration appears to be systematically knocking down key environmental policies while sewing the seeds of doubt about the very existence of human-caused climate change. Most recently, Trump signed an executive order aiming to unravel the Clean Power Plan, and he banned certain government offices from using the phrase “climate change”. These are bold and disheartening steps in the wrong direction.”