Promoting access to nature for underserved communities can improve quality of life while bolstering biodiversity and fighting climate change, according to a new report from the Hispanic Access Foundation.

The study was released at the recent United Nations Conference on Climate Change and suggests 10 policy areas which could make a big difference.

Shanna Edberg, director of conservation programs for the Hispanic Access Foundation and co-author of the report, said it is not enough to simply protect nature. People's access to nature must be protected, especially for disinvested communities.

"When you look at it through the lens of access, you end up leveraging people's health and jobs and racial equity and mental and physical well-being," Edberg explained.

The report praised Indigenous stewardship and calls for more lands and waters to be returned to tribes or comanaged with local authorities. The authors want people to use more native plants in landscaping, and "green" the water infrastructure so more is absorbed into the aquifer through the soil rather than flowing into the sea.

The study also suggested planting more trees and improving parks in urban neighborhoods.

Pedro Hernandez, public lands advocate for the organization Green Latinos and another co-author of the report, said low-income communities of color are part of the ecosystem, and they deserve protection and public investment.

"Conservation projects would include more access to healthy green areas, or retrofit existing green areas to better suit the needs of the ecosystem," Hernandez pointed out. "For example, with more native plants or more urban canopies to address climate issues."

The report also looked at the benefits of improving public access to the coast, restoring wetlands, and cleaning up old oil and gas extraction sites.

As U.S. government website purges continue, one nonprofit is racing to track and save as much data as possible.

The Open Environmental Data Project is one of several organizations working to preserve public access to federal climate science and environmental justice data and tools. Their efforts are a direct response to the Trump administration's orders to scrub government websites of information and references related to DEI and climate change, among other topics.

Katie Hoeberling, director of policy initiatives for the project, said people rely on data to support critical research, advocacy and policy, and litigation work.

"Everyone who has paid taxes in the last two decades helped create this information," Hoeberling pointed out. "So the fact that it's been taken down, not only is it kind of erasing the history of our country, it feels like theft."

In Illinois, environmental data has spurred action through such initiatives as the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act and policies to address environmental justice issues and climate change effects.

When it comes to environmental justice, Hoeberling acknowledged there are always multiple burdens but said climate science datasets and tools help aggregate key information to address them and serve as a widely accepted body of evidence to help hold polluters accountable, aid in climate-change planning and guide agencies in prioritizing funding for disadvantaged communities.

"The data removals are just part of this larger effort to not just stop supporting communities that need support but to hide the impacts that we are inevitably going to feel and are already feeling," Hoeberling contended.

Cathy Richards, data inclusion specialist for the project, said she tries to focus on how challenging times have presented an opportunity to rebuild in better ways.

"One of the big things that's in this process I've been thinking a lot about is developing platforms and data portals in ways that make it a lot easier for people to access things, a lot more resilient generally," Richards explained.

Along with focusing on high-priority federal website information, the project is looking at "lower-risk" data from nongovernment websites to save and house on its website. People can also nominate a website to be archived.


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Nearly 100 probationary workers for the Environmental Protection Agency in Chicago have had their jobs cut and then reinstated in the last month. They have also been ordered to close all environmental justice offices in the agency, affecting another 30 employees in the region.

The latest threat is the possible closure of the EPA's Office of Research and Development, which could mean firing more than 1,000 scientists and support staff.

Nicole Cantello, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 704, which represents workers in the six Great Lakes area states, said the changes have put public safety and the environment at risk.

"There really is a connection between EPA and saving lives," Cantello pointed out. "No one knows what we do until we stop doing it, and then they feel the effects. But there are EPA employees here in Chicago that are protecting you every single day."

Issues they cover include dangerous pollution in air and drinking water, and the environmental aftermath of disasters like train derailments or oil spills. The EPA is calling Tuesday a National Day of Action, with demonstrations planned in at least eight cities across the country.

Cantello noted the agency uses the rules set by its scientific research teams to monitor for air quality and water quality problems and alert the public.

"When the Trump administration takes away the scientists, they take away EPA's ability to address emerging environmental problems that haven't yet been studied but we use our scientists to tell us how to address," Cantello explained.

Cantello added proposed cuts could also affect the BEACH Act, which for more than two decades has covered EPA monitoring of coastal recreation waters. She stressed it would put the Great Lakes at risk.

"If we don't implement the BEACH Act anymore, then we won't be able to tell whether or not our beaches are safe," Cantello emphasized. "Especially from things like E. coli, which, lots of times, there's beaches shut down because of that."

The Trump administration called the cuts necessary to curb government waste and spending.


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Michigan environmental groups are pushing back as Enbridge's Line 5 tunnel faces "emergency" review, potentially bypassing full scrutiny and public input.

The move comes after President Donald Trump's executive order declared a national energy emergency to fast-track infrastructure projects. Environmental groups warn a Line 5 tunnel leak threatens the Great Lakes.

Sean McBrearty, campaign coordinator for the advocacy group Oil and Water Don't Mix, believes public outcry over the past week, led the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to remove 600 emergency-designated projects, including Line 5, from its website.

"Now we don't know whether they've changed the status of those projects or the proposed status of those projects," McBrearty pointed out. "Or whether they're still doing the same thing and just attempting to hide it from the public."

The tunnel would replace lake bed pipelines beneath the Straits of Mackinac with a concrete-lined enclosure for Line 5. In a recent statement Enbridge said, in part, Michigan approved environmental permits and tunnel placement for Line 5, but after nearly five years, the project still awaits a U.S. Army Corps decision on its environmental impact.

Meanwhile, the Michigan Court of Appeals recently upheld state permits for the tunnel, allowing Enbridge to move forward. McBrearty argued Enbridge lacks tunnel-building experience, calling them "ditch diggers" and labeling Line 5 a high-risk, low-reward venture.

"This tunnel would be actually the highest pressurized tunnel in the world, if it's built," McBrearty noted. "Pressure down there is measured at seventeen atmospheres - five atmospheres is enough to kill somebody. That shouldn't be rushed through as an emergency under any circumstances."

Enbridge maintains the Line 5 tunnel enhances pipeline safety, ensures energy reliability, supports jobs, and has 70% of Michiganders' support.