Executive Director's Note for February 2025 Networker
Of all the talismans on my desk, the medal commemorating 50 years of the French resistance to the Nazis is the most potent: it reminds me every day of my commitment to resist injustice, to fight for all that is sacred, to stand with the oppressed.
These are dark days for anyone concerned about climate change, clean water, or public health. We were already in the maelstrom of the polycrisis before the inauguration of the 47th president. Everywhere we turn we were already seeing environmental destruction, an economic system in turmoil, infectious disease (bird flu) and chronic diseases (cancer) on the rise.
The new administration has already blocked government websites from publishing basic public health or weather data. It has cut funding for scientific research and basic public health interventions like protecting babies from HIV. It is suspending enforcement of environmental laws. It is using emergency powers to suspend key provisions in the Clean Water Act.
That’s a lot of bad news, all of which you probably already know. I’m not going to “bad news/good news” you. There is other news. That news is how we (the environmental and public health communities) are gathering resources and strategizing to be able to do all in our power to both prevent harm and suffering as well as to create a world worthy of future generations.
So what are we doing at SEHN?
We are collecting and sharing the best information and data on public health and environmental matters so we aren’t flying blind. Accurate information is crucial for making good decisions. Rumors and lies short circuit precautionary action. In the absence of hard facts there are some guidelines for testing information. These include:
Use ecological principles for assessing “solutions.”;
Check your sources and then go upstream and check the sources your sources relied on;
Be suspicious of claims made by corporations or individuals that have conflicts of interest.
We are mobilizing and joining networks and coalitions so that we are not isolated and acting alone. Immediately after the election, we helped create a new Action Network to challenge bad carbon capture and storage policy, including the 45Q tax credit that pays the polluter to pollute. Some of our SEHN staff members are ramping up their involvement in grassroots efforts to highlight the failure at the federal level to follow existing laws and protect communities.
We are using all the tools available at the local and state levels to help protect water and further public health. In many cases, state or local agencies can still make and enforce protective policy. So we aim to equip local and state activists and government officials with information that will enable wise, protective decisions.
We are shining a bright light on the ethical issues. These times call for moral clarity and courage, since the president and his entourage are carrying out actions that are intended to create suffering. We stand for the basic idea, embodied in the precautionary principle, that we are morally obligated to prevent the preventable suffering. The havoc wreaked by ignoring climate change and deliberately unleashing fossil fuels, will, unless checked, drive more suffering than we can imagine.
I take a lesson from the Spartans who used their shields, not only to protect their own bodies, but to protect their comrades. The shields were a community defense system. The Spartans went into battle in a phalanx, shoulder to shoulder, the shields serving as a great wall. But the shields were not only a defensive tool, but offensive weapon: they could serve as a club.
We at SEHN and the wider environmental community of resistance are building and using our shields now. In 50 years, perhaps future generations will know that we used everything in our power to protect their lives. Our shields will be on the commemorative medal honoring our resistance and what we did to prevent suffering from the autocratic and oligarchic forces at work today.
Thank you for bringing your own courage and shield to the resistance. We stand together.
Carolyn Raffensperger