The local councils of the American Federation of Government Employees organized an Earth Day march Tuesday afternoon at the Cascade Hemophilia Consortium, chosen because of its location across from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory. Approximately 250 individuals joined the AFGE event in solidarity with the EPA workers. Environmental organizations such as the Huron River Watershed Council, A2Zero Ambassadors and the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration set up booths around the march.

U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich, and U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich spoke on the importance of protecting environmental policy. Dingell told the crowd people today have a responsibility to take action for the environment and support future generations, referencing political efforts in passing various environmental policies in the 1960s. 

“We have a responsibility to protect these lands for the generations to come,” Dingell said. “It’s going to cost us lives if we don’t clean our environment. (John Dingell and Edmund Muskie) had to fight to get the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Air Act and so many other pieces of legislation, and it happened because people took (to) the streets.”

Tlaib said the consequences of a neglected and damaged environment would be felt on a large scale.

“Every single corner of our country relies on clean water, on clean air,” Tlaib said. “You say children can’t learn if they’re hungry, but children can’t learn if they’re being poisoned by dirty water and by dirty air.”

In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Rebecca Esselman, Huron River Watershed Council executive director, said the reason HRWC attended the event was to continue providing solidarity for federal environmental agencies and their workers under threat from the federal administration. 

“The Huron River Watershed Council is here today because we can’t do our work alone,” Esselman said. “The support of our federal partners is really integral to the success of our mission, and we’re here in solidarity with them. The actions that the federal administration is taking to reduce funding, to reduce staffing and therefore capacity in the federal agencies and to roll back environmental protections is incredibly harmful to the American people, so we are here standing with our agency friends and hoping for a difference.”

Esselman said gathering support helps provide a voice for environmental workers. 

“(We) are seeing more and more people gather to protest actions being taken by the federal administration, it’s really heartening to see,” Esselman said. “It’s really important for us to keep gathering, to keep voicing where we have disagreements with what’s happening and what we would prefer to see our federal government do to protect our land, air and water.”

In an interview with The Daily, retired engineer Jeff Alson said it was important to ensure EPA employees feel supported by the public.

“We do very important work, and right now, the people that work (at the EPA) feel like they’re under assault, and so I think the number one goal of the rally is to show them that there is this public support,” Alson said. “We’re hoping that the people that come to the rally will be more motivated to contact their congressman or congresswoman and talk to their other elected officials to try to build up some political support.”

Daily Staff Reporter Kaelyn Sourya can be reached at ksourya@umich.edu.