Remarks for the National Action Network (NAN) Event, As Prepared for Delivery
Michael Regan
Washington, DC
April 14, 2023
Thank you, Reverend Sharpton. It’s wonderful to be here. I appreciate the invitation.
Reverend, for as long as I can remember, you have been a force for good. You have never shied away from confronting longstanding injustices in this country, calling out systemic racism in all its insidious forms, and fighting for all people to be treated with dignity, respect, and loving care.
We are better because of you and because of the National Action Network’s tremendous leadership. So, thank you for everything you do.
To all the grassroots organizers and community leaders in the room today, thank you for fighting to move the needle on progress. All change, be it big or small, begins on a local level. Thank you for holding your government accountable and uplifting the realities of your communities.
I’m also grateful to the members of clergy here today.
The faith community has long been at the forefront of social progress – from the Quakers who worked to dismantle slavery, to the Catholics who championed a living wage and workers’ rights, to the Protestants, Jews, Muslims, and Orthodox Christians who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the civil rights movement.
Each of these pivotal moments in our history has shown us that the faith community should never be underestimated.
As a person of faith, I’ve seen firsthand how this community can use its moral authority to change hearts and minds.
I’ve seen how you’ve galvanized the most unlikely partners to set differences aside and come together for the common good.
And, above all, I’ve seen how you’ve relied on your faith to guide you, to sustain you, and to carry you forward in your relentless pursuit of justice.
As faith leaders, you’ve been able to show people that it’s our moral obligation to care for God’s creation – for our shared home here on earth. It’s the Good Book, after all, that teaches us that it’s our responsibility to "tend the garden,” and it’s the Golden Rule that teaches us to treat all people with decency, love, and compassion.
Something that’s been on my mind quite a bit is the understanding that our time here is limited – it’s fleeting for all of us, but certainly, for roles like mine. We have a finite amount of time to make a difference in people’s lives, to push progress forward, and to ensure this nation lives up to her highest ideals.
Proverbs 3:27 tells us: "Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act."
It’s this understanding that drives me every single day to fight for people’s right to clean air and clean water, and I know, it drives all of you in the ongoing fight for civil rights.
Reverend, over the past year, I’ve thought a lot about something I’ve heard you say – “I've seen too much in life to give up.”
My role as Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has given me the privilege of traveling all across this country. I’ve sat with folks in their churches, at their kitchen tables, and on their front porches… people for whom the future hasn’t always felt certain. Black and brown communities, Tribal and low-income rural communities that have been hurting for a long time.
I visited Jackson, Mississippi – a capital city in America – and met with residents who have lived for year after year, with boil water advisories due to decades of neglected water infrastructure.
I traveled to Puerto Rico and spoke with folks who live in constant worry that the air they breathe, or the water they drink will sicken them, or their children.
I met with families in Lowndes County, Alabama – a wellspring for the civil rights movement – so that I could see up close the injustices that folks have been living with for decades… pipes protruding from the side of their homes, spilling waste into the same places where their children play.
I’ve met with the good people of McDowell County, West Virginia — one of the poorest counties in our country — who have had to navigate the challenges of wastewater infrastructure that’s been failing for years.
And just last week, I visited St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana, where children go to school every day right next door to a chemical plant.
Stories like these are all too familiar and can be found in every corner of our country. And these persistent inequities don’t just harm the communities who experience them – they harm all of us. They hold back the people of our nation from their God-given rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. They hold back our children from reaching their fullest potential.
Folks, one thing that becomes clearer and clearer to me every day in this role is that the fight for civil rights and the fight for environmental, economic, health, and racial justice are inseparable. We simply cannot be for one without the other.
And like you, Reverend I have seen too much in life to give up.
So, let me be clear. We will not give up… in fact, we’re just getting started.
I’m honored to work for a President and Vice President who have dedicated their careers to fighting to make this country fairer and more equitable.
I believe we’ve reached a pivotal time in our nation’s history. We can either choose to move forward with dignity and justice for all, or we can allow these persistent and longstanding challenges to fall by the wayside and struggle to protect our environment…our children…our future.
But we have a responsibility, and the latter isn’t really an option.
“For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required …”
When people in power use their time to widen the tent of opportunity for all of God’s children…
When we remember that we are all called upon to “carry each other’s burdens…
Then, and only then, are we upholding our responsibility as leaders.
The President and Vice President see everybody for who they are and who they can be when they’re given the opportunity and resources to soar.
That’s why this Administration established Justice40, to ensure that at least 40% of benefits of certain federal programs flow to underserved and overburden communities.
And when you consider the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the Inflation Reduction Act together, EPA has been tasked with investing a combined $130 billion – billion with a ‘B’ – in the health, equity, and resilience of American communities.
40% of that $130 billion will be invested directly in communities who have long borne the burden of pollution and environmental injustice.
This is a massive opportunity to change the way government operates and who it serves – to create a rising tide that truly lifts all boats.
Our communities who’ve fought for a seat at the table, who’ve struggled to have their voices heard and concerns addressed, deserve the assurance that this EPA and this administration has their back. We are listening to them, and we are delivering for them – not with rhetoric but with action.
So, over the last two years EPA has stepped up.
Late last year, we set forth a plan to stabilize the City of Jackson’s drinking water system, remedy problems that contributed to the water crisis, and establish sustainable practices that would prevent a crisis like this from reoccurring.
Ultimately, EPA helped appoint a Third-Party Manager to operate the city’s drinking water system, and we helped secure more $800 million dollars for the people of Jackson.
Thanks to President Biden’s historic investments in America, we’re dedicating billions of dollars to remove all lead pipes in this country. And this past January, we announced a major new initiative to accelerate the goal of 100% lead pipe removal and replacement in urban and rural communities across our nation.
Earlier this month, we returned to St. John the Baptist Parish and issued a proposal that would slash more than 6,000 tons of toxic air pollution per year, and reduce the number of people that are at an elevated risk for cancer by 96%.
We’re also investing tens of billions of dollars into initiatives that specifically help communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis and environmental injustice.
Last fall, our agency established a new national program office, the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights. We’ve elevated environmental justice and external civil rights to the highest levels of EPA, placing this critical work on equal structural footing as our other national program offices.
This new office will dedicate more than 200 EPA staff to solving environmental challenges in communities that have been underserved and overlooked for too long.
And it memorializes the agency’s commitment to delivering justice and equity for all — ensuring that no matter who sits in the Oval Office or who heads the EPA, environmental justice remains central to our agency’s mission for years to come.
We’re investing billions of dollars to bolster EPA’s Brownfields program, which is helping breathe new life into underserved communities and empowering them to transform formerly blighted areas into economic engines that supply opportunities for job growth and community rejuvenation.
EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund – a first-of-its-kind $27 billion program – will provide financing to support greenhouse gas reduction projects in low-income and disadvantaged communities.
And the creation of the Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Centers, in conjunction with a nationwide network of support, will help overburdened communities across the country access funds that advance environmental justice.
Just yesterday, right here in New York City, alongside leaders like We ACT’s Peggy Shepard and Congressman Espaillat, we announced that EPA is selecting 17 Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Centers, each set to receive a total of $177 million dollars to help underserved communities access historic investments to advance environmental justice.
THIS is what we mean when we talk about justice for all. Not for some – but for all.
As EPA Administrator, I will never lose sight of our commitment to protecting the communities who’ve long suffered at the hands of indifference and neglect – from Lowndes County, Alabama to McDowell County, West Virginia.
We’ve been hard at work for the people of this country, and we have no intention of slowing down.
Everything we do – everything I do – at EPA is rooted in the belief that all people, no matter the color of their skin, the money in their pocket, or the community they live in, deserve to realize the full protections of our environmental laws.
My brothers and sisters, this work is critical. It’s the work I came to this Administration to do, and it’s the work that all of you have been demanding for years… because protecting people from environmental harm, is civil rights. Plain and simple.
We all have a role to play in this fight for justice.
And together, we will achieve true justice for all.
Thank you.