Environmental justice advocate says local action key as trump administration returns to power

As Donald Trump prepares to return to the White House, environmental justice communities are bracing for potential rollbacks of federal protections. But according to Monique Harden, a prominent environmental justice lawyer and advocate based in New Orleans, the most meaningful progress may continue to happen at the grassroots level regardless of federal policy changes.

In a recent interview with Living on Earth, public radio’s environmental news magazine, Harden discussed the ongoing struggles faced by communities of color who have disproportionately borne the burden of environmental pollution for generations. African American and other minority communities continue to experience higher exposure levels to toxic substances from industrial facilities, landfills, chemical plants, and major highways—a pattern of environmental racism that has persisted across multiple presidential administrations.

Harden, who works directly in Louisiana’s infamous “Cancer Alley”—an 85-mile stretch along the Mississippi River between New Orleans and Baton Rouge where petrochemical plants have created severe health disparities—emphasizes that local organizing and community-led initiatives remain the most effective drivers of environmental justice progress. Her perspective suggests that while federal policy certainly matters, the real power for change continues to reside in affected communities themselves, who are developing innovative strategies to protect their health and advocate for cleaner environments at the local level.

This grassroots approach may prove particularly crucial during Trump’s second term, as environmental justice advocates prepare to defend hard-won gains while continuing to push for meaningful change in their own backyards.