By Jordan Howes, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy

The West Virginia Highlands Conservancy recently signed on to a national community letter urging Congress to hold the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) accountable to its core mission: protecting human health and the environment.

The letter, organized by Moms Clean Air Force and joined by organizations across the country, calls on congressional leaders to exercise their oversight authority by holding hearings on the EPA’s recent actions and decision-making. Specifically, it asks that EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin be called to testify before Congress on policies that are moving the agency away from its longstanding responsibilities under laws such as the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act.

For decades, the EPA has served as a critical safeguard for public health, clean air, clean water, and the protection of natural places. The sign-on letter expresses deep concern that the agency’s current direction represents an unprecedented departure from its mission. Recent actions by the EPA would roll back protections that limit toxic air pollution, weaken safeguards against dangerous chemicals, and dismantle science-based climate policies that protect communities now and for generations to come.

Many of these rollbacks would have direct consequences for West Virginia and Appalachian regions. Increased air pollution from coal-fired power plants, weakened oversight of toxic chemicals, and reduced protections for national parks and wilderness areas all threaten the health of our communities and the integrity of the Highlands we work to defend. The letter also highlights the growing health and economic costs associated with these changes, including higher medical expenses, increased rates of asthma and other chronic illnesses, and long-term economic harm.

Of particular concern is the EPA’s attack on the Regional Haze Rule, a cornerstone of the Clean Air Act that protects visibility and air quality in national parks and wilderness areas. For West Virginia, where public lands and scenic landscapes are central to our identity and economy, weakening these protections undermines decades of bipartisan environmental progress.

By signing this letter, the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy is standing with parents, health advocates, conservation organizations and community groups nationwide who believe that the EPA must remain grounded in science, public accountability and its legal mandate. Changes in administration should not mean abandoning the agency’s fundamental purpose or placing communities at risk.

Congress has both the authority and the responsibility to oversee federal agencies and ensure they serve the public interest. We joined this letter to affirm that protecting human health, clean air, clean water and our shared natural heritage must remain at the heart of EPA’s work, for West Virginia and for the nation as a whole.