This is the second installment in our series on “The Cost of Ignorance” : a set of campaigns that shine a spotlight on how the Trump administration is making America less safe, with the aim of inspiring more people to speak out. Research by Potential Energy and others shows that people are more motivated to speak up when they see how they are personally impacted.

This week, we’re focusing on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which has recently moved to roll back important regulations, dismantle the Office of Research and Development, and pursue the repeal of the 2009 endangerment finding—which is the foundation of all federal action on climate.

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These days, the EPA seems determined to do anything except protect human health and the environment.

The big story of the week is that the agency is following through on its plan to repeal the endangerment finding—a landmark declaration that clearly establishes a link between greenhouse gases and health and environmental harms.

Given that this finding has been used to justify nearly every major piece of climate policy since 2009, the impacts of a repeal would be catastrophic. The agency would lose its most valuable tool for regulating climate pollutants, and we would lose decades of progress in addressing climate change.

Even if the administration faces an uphill battle with a repeal, this development is still a tough pill to swallow.

And it’s not the only one.

Now that the Trump administration has been given the go-ahead to fire tens of thousands of federal employees, the EPA has announced its plans for a massive organizational overhaul. They’ll be reducing their workforce by a total of 3,700 employees—a whopping 23% reduction from January staffing levels—and moving forward with the elimination of the Office of Research and Development.

This small but mighty office has served as the agency’s scientific arm for more than half a century, helping to ensure that EPA standards, protections, and regulations are grounded in the best available science. It is quite literally the “heart and brain of the EPA”—and to dismantle it will have devastating impacts on public and environmental health, scientific integrity, and the agency’s future.

That’s a large price to pay for a measly 0.012% of the federal budget in savings.

It’s clearer than ever that it’s never been about cutting costs. These devastating decisions are all about propping up the dying fossil fuel industry and gutting the very agency that has historically held them accountable.

So what can we do to fight back?

• Keep throwing sand in the gears. If there’s a silver lining when it comes to the EPA’s ongoing deregulatory push, it’s that every regulatory change—even repealing the endangerment finding—can only be done through rulemaking. We can take advantage of public comment periods to “flood the zone” and further slow down these months-long processes. CANdoers are already raising their voices to oppose the repeal of power plant emissions standards and the weakening of the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards—and we plan to keep it up!

• Urge our elected officials to highlight the real costs of these rollbacks. Even a slight weakening of existing rules and regulations will lead to premature death, continued climate and environmental damages, and greater health impacts in our country’s most vulnerable communities. We can emphasize these impacts to our elected officials and urge them to make sure their constituents are aware of the stakes.

• Support those who are actively taking a stand. More than 600 EPA employees—past and present—have published a letter opposing the Trump administration’s policies and urging Zeldin to reverse course. Their show of bravery may have been rewarded with suspension, but when even our Supreme Court is acting to further the President’s agenda, the fact that they took a stand at all is what matters. Let’s make sure as many people as possible know about their Declaration of Dissent!

Remember: our voices are our superpowers. They may not always change the outcome, but by raising them, we inspire others to do the same.

Let’s keep doing what we do best!