"This entire event is close to my heart. I grew up in the shadow of an oil refinery. My school was literally on the cliffs right above this refinery, and on windy days the pollution would flow into our playground. Most of my friends had inhalers. Many of them had cancer, and one day the parents started to talk and realize that this was not normal. And they started to organize, and they started to ask questions, and they started to demand action," Heather Taylor-Miesle began her speech at the Ohio 15th District Town Hall meeting on February 23.
Taylor-Miesle called out US EPA Chief Scott Pruitt for his fossil fuel ties and President Trump's administration for the many attacks on environmental protections that have occurred over the last month.
She continued, "It is a passion for communities that suffer from cancer-clusters because a bad acting company doesn't know how to clean up their mess. We are passionate for justice for our children who can't play outside because of asthma attacks. We are passionate for places that create community like our parks that should be open to everybody and owned by the public just as it was always intended. We are passionate about leaving this world a better place than we found it."
The Ohio Environmental Action Fund is the state's only comprehensive environmental organization with lawyers, advocates, experts and organizers working to protect Ohio's water, air, land and clean energy future.