---
title: "At UMD, EPA Chief Tells Young People: ‘Never Forget How Vital Your Role Is’"
date: 2023-05-11T13:00:00-04:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/at-umd-epa-chief-tells-young-people-never-forget-how-vital-your-role-is"
section: Articles
---
# At UMD, EPA Chief Tells Young People: ‘Never Forget How Vital Your Role Is’

*May 11, 2023* — by [Annie Krakower](/author/annie-krakower)


> Biden Administration Rolls Out New Proposed Regulations on Energy Sector at Campus Event

*EPA Press Conference 05112023 JC 7773 1920x1080 — EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan emphasized the role of young people in fighting the climate crisis while announcing new proposed standards for power plants today at the Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center. Below, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore shakes hands with student speaker Anushka Tandon, an environmental science and technology major, at the event.*

In remarks stressing the key role young people play in combating the climate crisis, the head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced new emission-cutting standards for power plants in an event today at the University of Maryland.

National, local and state government leaders gathered with UMD students, faculty and staff in the Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center as EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan rolled out the latest step in the Biden administration’s fight against climate change—one that could cut up to 617 million metric tons of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from coal and natural gas burning plants through 2042.

“There’s no question that we have a lot more work to do, but so much of what we have achieved, so much of what President Biden has achieved already, is because of you, because of the younger generation, because of your generation’s work to ensure that climate change is the topic of conversation on the world stage,” Regan told the audience. “It’s important that you never forget how vital your role is in creating and demanding a cleaner, healthier and more just world.”

Regan also announced his proposal for a National Environmental Youth Advisory Council, which would give activists as young as 16 “a seat at the table,” he said, with the opportunity to make recommendations directly to EPA staff.



*Gov. Moore greets student*




**Topics:** [Campus & Community](https://today.umd.edu/tags/campus-community)


**Tags:** [Climate Change](https://today.umd.edu/topic/climate-change), [Environmental Science and Technology](https://today.umd.edu/topic/environmental-science-and-technology)


**Units:** [Division of Administration](https://today.umd.edu/topic/division-administration)