Our rights are at stake

Imagine a world where the tap water from your kitchen sink comes out brown, where you do not know whether that water is safe to drink, or if the air you breathe when you walk outside is polluted with harmful chemicals.

This was the reality of America before the Environmental Protection Agency was established.

Dirty water would pour out of sinks in American homes. Clouds of smog floated in the air. This was the result of local mining waste and factory runoff being dumped into local freshwater without any accountability or regulation.

However, when the EPA was established, the agency began to regulate industrial waste, ensuring that local water sources remained free of contaminates.

Clean air and water are not privileges — they are rights. Without the EPA, Americans will see more tragic incidents such as those in Flint, Mich.

However, by keeping the agency’s budget intact, more can be done to prevent such occurrences from ever taking place. Protecting the EPA’S budget not only maintains a safe and healthy future for our generation, but for generations to come.

That is why I volunteer with Defend Our Future, a nonpartisan, student-led organization that aims to educate the community about environmental issues and encourage people to take action on climate.

The Trump administration is prioritizing industry interests over the health and safety of Nevadans and all Americans, putting us at risk of returning to the world before the EPA.

I won’t stand to let that happen, and neither should you.

Mihaela Genova, Las Vegas