Over the past two years, I was proud to be part of a group of experts working to make U.S. environmental and public health policies more effective. As part of the Cumulative Impacts workgroup of the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC), it was exciting to work with and learn from some of the leading minds from community organizations, academia, state and municipal governments, nonprofits and the private sector. We produced a report full of recommendations for how the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency could use a cumulative impacts approach to improve their efforts to protect our health and safety.

Unfortunately, in the wake of the last presidential election, this work is likely to fall by the wayside. A wrecking crew of polluters and ideologues is targeting the federal government’s ability to get scientific input.