Democracy depends on real processes: public hearings where people testify, scientific review grounded in evidence, opportunities for public comment and courts that uphold the law. Feb. 12, when the EPA eliminated its authority to regulate greenhouse gases, what fell was both an environmental protection and the democratic process that created it.
The reversal of the 2009 Endangerment Finding – a formal determination by the EPA confirming that greenhouse gases endanger public health and are leading causes of climate change – happened in mere months. The reversal relied on an Energy Department report that a federal judge ruled violated public transparency laws and was finalized without adequately addressing more than half a million public comments, many of which opposed the rollback. The contrast could not be clearer. The original Endangerment Finding was reached over years, informed by decades of peer-reviewed science; affirmed by the Supreme Court and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; and supported by multiple public hearings and more than 380,000 public comments.
For local-level elected officials, this isn’t abstract. County commissioners, city council members, tribal leaders and other officials spent years documenting pollution impacts in their communities, testifying at hearings, gathering data and working across party lines. They proved that this democratic system works and that local and tribal officials play vital roles in improving their communities.
When democracy works, communities can protect what they value. Local leaders and their communities identify problems, share evidence and tell federal leaders what they need. Policy responds. For example, after years of testimony from local officials about the impacts of gas and oil operations – including pollution carrying toxic chemicals that contribute to thousands of premature deaths and hundreds of thousands of asthma attacks each year – new protections were added to the 2009 Finding, and they delivered both health and economic benefits. For example, New Mexico alone has captured $125 million in previously wasted natural gas, adding $27 million in royalties and revenue for taxpayers. At the same time, climate pollution mitigation has helped build a new domestic industry and create new jobs, with over 200 companies operating in more than 1,000 locations nationwide.
Today, hard-won health and climate protections face profound uncertainty. When regulatory decisions move away from established science, legal precedent and years of public input – and instead align more closely with industries that spent over $450 million on the most recent election cycle – whose voices are shaping policies that should protect communities? We can’t protect the environment without protecting our democracy.
We’ve also learned that we can’t sustain democracy when our communities are overwhelmed by environmental disasters. When your town evacuates from a wildfire or flood, participating in governance becomes exponentially harder. Strong democratic institutions allow communities to identify threats and work toward solutions before catastrophe strikes.
Democracy doesn’t just happen in Washington. It happens when you vote in every election, show up at city council meetings when decisions affecting your community are being made, speak up against election misinformation and support local officials who govern with integrity. The democratic processes that protect our air, water and land also protect our right to fair elections, accountable government and a voice in what comes next.
The same local, tribal, and state officials who helped build federal environmental protections through democratic processes are still organizing and continuing the work. They understand what’s at stake – not just clean air and water, but communities’ very ability to shape their own futures. And together we know what democracy has already delivered, and what it can still make possible.
Guest commentary by Liane Jollon, executive director of Western Leaders Network and Appalachian Leaders Network, organizations that harness the power of local, tribal and state elected and appointed officials to address the climate crisis, advance conservation initiatives and protect democracy. She’s the former director of the former San Juan Basin Public Health. Jollon served on the Herald’s 2017-18 Editorial Advisory Board. Ellen Stein returns Feb. 27.
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