Fifty-five years ago, on the first Earth Day, millions of Americans took to the streets to demand environmental action. That moment sparked a movement, one that gave us the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Environmental Protection Agency. It was a turning point.
Today, we face another. But this time, the stakes are even higher—and the threat is more urgent.
In 2025, the Trump administration is not just ignoring the climate crisis —it is actively undermining decades of progress. On day one, the administration re-withdrew the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement, signaling a dangerous retreat from global climate cooperation. Since then, it has opened over half of the country’s protected forests to logging, reversed bans on toxic PFAS chemicals, and propped up polluting coal plants with executive orders —all while stripping back core environmental protections under the guise of “energy independence.”
One of the most alarming rollbacks is the elimination of the Clean Power Plan, which essentially opens the door to continued use of coal-fired power plants —the most polluting energy sources. At the same time, the Environmental Protection Agency is moving to dismantle the Good Neighbor Plan, a vital policy under the Clean Air Act that helps prevent air pollution from drifting across state lines. This rollback has enormous consequences for Connecticut.
These decisions may feel far away from Connecticut, but their impacts land right here in our backyards. In August 2024, a few Connecticut towns faced deadly and historic rainfall and flooding. On August 18, peak rainfall amounts exceeded three inches of water per hour, and seven inches in three hours in a band from the Town of Monroe to the Town of Oxford. The estimated cost of damages from flooding in Oxford is around $20 million and over $10 million in Southbury.
More than any other eastern state, Connecticut has suffered from out-of-state air pollution, especially from upwind coal and industrial plants in the Midwest. The impacts of climate change are causing serious damage and costs to Connecticut communities. Just last summer, Connecticut farmers lost millions in crops after torrential floods wiped out growing fields —floods fueled by extreme weather patterns made worse by climate change.
Coastal towns like Guilford, Fairfield, and Old Saybrook are contending with sea level rise and saltwater intrusion that threaten homes and infrastructure. Meanwhile, communities of color and low-income neighborhoods in cities like Bridgeport and Hartford are disproportionately exposed to dangerous heat and air pollution—conditions that will only worsen as the climate crisis accelerates.
This is Connecticut’s climate reality.
And yet, while the Trump administration rolls back environmental protections, Connecticut has a choice: we can follow them into failure —or we can fight forward.
Though the Connecticut General Assembly has failed to pass any meaningful climate legislation the past two years, this legislative session they have an opportunity to pass bills that will combat the dangerous and costly impacts of climate change. House Bill 5004, Senate Bill 9 and SJ 36 each contain key components needed to mitigate climate change impacts, increase climate resilience, and establish long-term protection.
This Earth Day, we must say clearly and collectively: We cannot go back. Not on clean air. Not on safe water. Not on climate protection. Our state has the power and the responsibility to lead. That means protecting our most impacted and under-resourced communities. It means rejecting new fossil fuel infrastructure and holding polluters accountable. It means clean air, water, and healthy, renewable energy.
We owe it to the farmers who are seeing their livelihoods washed away. To the children growing up with asthma in polluted neighborhoods. To the coastal families watching the water inch closer to their front doors. And to the next generation, who deserve a livable planet—not the burden of cleaning up our mess.
Connecticut must lead where the Trump administration in Washington D.C. is failing. Let this Earth Day be one for bold state and local action. We cannot afford to wait. We cannot afford to move backward. And we will not let climate denial and corporate greed determine our future.
Julianna LaRue is an organizer for the Connecticut Chapter of the Sierra Club.