On June 22nd, 1969, the Cuyahoga River in Ohio caught on fire—for the thirteenth time. National outrage over the pollution of the river led to the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The protections created by the EPA have cleaned up the waterways of America so that no such fire should ever happen again. The air has been cleaned as well; one only needs to look at photos of Los Angeles or New York City from the 1960s-1970s to see the difference. EPA protections are important in Mississippi too. Despite EPA protections, the dumping of the carcinogen trichloroethylene onto the ground and into the waters in Grenada, MS and Water Valley, MS have created an environmental crisis in our state. Without EPA protections, the crisis would have been even more widespread.

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As a professional chemist for 27 years, the first thing I teach students is safe handling of chemicals. I teach them how to protect themselves and the environment from the things they are working with. That knowledge of chemical safety is an important reason I’m running for congress. The recent firing of scientists from the EPA advisory board by the Trump administration does not bode well for the rivers, lakes, forests, and ocean that are so important to Mississippi’s culture and economy.

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As your congressman, I will fight to keep EPA protections intact, because I understand what’s going to happen if we lose them.

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