Country needs EPA to be fully funded

With the celebrations of Earth Month concluding, I fear that our vigilance around caring for our environment will again be relegated to the back burner. As a father of three and a local pastor, I care deeply about the creation around us and the protections we have in place to care for it. I am originally from Cleveland; yes, the Mistake on the Lake. It’s not every day that one’s river catches fire. But the Cuyahoga River combusting due to pollutants from corporate dumping was one of the keystone events to create the EPA.

In short, we all need clean air and water protections, limitations on pollutants released by companies and protection of public lands.

All these things are currently under attack in the interest of short-term private and corporate gains.

This approach is dangerous and kicks the can down the road in creating problems that our children and grandchildren will be forced to deal with. We are borrowing the earth’s resources in a way that is unsustainable and irresponsible at the expense of our children’s ability to have as beautiful a planet as we have enjoyed.

I encourage anyone reading this to call your local senators and representatives urging them to write the leadership of the Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior, Environment and related agencies in calling for full funding for the Environmental Protection Agency in 2027 to enable both the research and enforcement on issues of environmental justice and threat to public health and safety.

We only have this one home which we all share. It is vital that we prioritize care of it.

Rev. Scott Oberle

Downers Grove