For Immediate Release: February 16, 2026 President Julie Kent, Florida NOW
Florida NOW strongly condemns President Donald Trump’s latest executive order directing federal agencies to dismantle core Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules that protect clean air, clean water, and public health. This sweeping order forces agencies to suspend or weaken environmental safeguards, fast-track fossil‑fuel projects, and block states from enforcing stronger pollution standards.
Trump’s directive is part of a broader pattern of rolling back environmental protections, concentrating power in the executive branch, and prioritizing corporate polluters over the health and safety of families. These actions disproportionately harm women, children, low-income communities, and communities of color—groups already facing higher exposure to toxic air and water.
“Environmental justice is gender justice,” said Florida NOW President Julie Kent. “When a president orders agencies to ignore science, silence experts, and weaken protections that keep our communities safe, women and families pay the price. Florida is already on the front lines of climate change, toxic algae blooms, and extreme heat. We cannot afford a federal government that abandons its responsibility to protect public health.”
The order threatens to:
- Undermine clean‑air standards that reduce asthma and respiratory illness
- Weaken clean‑water protections that safeguard drinking water
- Accelerate fossil‑fuel extraction and industrial pollution
- Strip states of the ability to enforce stricter environmental rules
- Silence scientific review and public input in environmental decisions
These rollbacks will hit Florida especially hard. Our coastal communities, agricultural regions, and urban centers already face severe environmental stress. Weakening EPA rules will worsen health disparities, increase toxic exposure, and place an even greater burden on women, who are often primary caregivers and frontline workers in health, education, and service sectors.
“Floridians deserve clean air, clean water, and a government that protects them—not one that hands the keys to polluters,” Debbie Deland, VP FL NOW said. “The days of denying climate change are over! Calling climate change a hoax is contrary to all science and irresponsible. We call on Congress, state leaders, and every community organization to oppose this reckless order and defend the environmental protections that keep our families safe.”
Florida NOW will continue working with environmental‑justice partners, public‑health advocates, and community leaders to resist these rollbacks and demand accountability for the health and well-being of marginalized communities.
### Media Contact: Debbie Deland, 407 234-6408, vp@flnow.org
