The head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced new emission-cutting standards for power plants May 11 during an event at the University of Maryland.
National, local and state government leaders gathered with UMD students, faculty and staff in the Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center as EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan rolled out the latest step in the Biden administration’s fight against climate change—one that could cut up to 617 million metric tons of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from coal and natural gas burning plants through 2042.
During the event, Regan recognized Gov. Wes Moore, Senior Vice President and Provost Jennifer King Rice and Professor Sacoby Wilson, director of Community Engagement, Environmental Justice and Health (CEEJH) in the School of Public Health, for their leadership.
Dr. Wilson has over 20 years of experience as an environmental health scientist in the areas of exposure science, environmental justice, environmental health disparities, community-based participatory research, water quality analysis, air pollution studies, built environment, industrial animal production, climate change, community resiliency and sustainability. He works primarily in partnership with community-based organizations to study and address environmental justice and health issues and translate research to action.
Dr. Wilson and CEEJH also lead the Mid-Atlantic Climate Action Hub (MATCH) - a new initiative funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to address the effects of environmental racism and climate change across the Mid-Atlantic region. MATCH builds connections across Washington, DC, Maryland, Virginia, Delaware and Pennsylvania, targeting communities that are disproportionately experiencing the negative effects of climate change because of historic disenfranchisement, coupled with proximity to environmental hazards and underlying social, economic and geographic vulnerabilities.
Read the Maryland Today story about Regan’s visit.