WASHINGTON – Today, May 21, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael S. Regan was joined by past and present Senior EPA Officials and other environmental stakeholders to officially open the National Environmental Museum and Education Center. The Center, which is located in the William Jefferson Clinton building on the corner of 13th and Pennsylvania Ave, is designed to inspire and educate the public about the nation’s environmental history and the efforts EPA and its partners at the state, local and Tribal levels have taken to protect air, water, land and public health.
“From Love Canal and the founding of EPA more than 50 years ago to the historic funding of our Investing in America agenda, our new museum chronicles our nation’s work to protect public health and the environment – a movement that has transcended political and geographic divides,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “Our work with state, local and Tribal partners has changed people’s lives, it has restored our connection with the environment and our planet, and it will ensure that future generations will continue to have clean air to breathe, safe water to drink, and clean land to live, work and play on.
The National Environmental Museum and Education Center tells EPA’s story since its creation under President Richard Nixon. From the Tribal communities who have cared for and called our lands home for centuries, to the states and communities who have fought to protect their air, land and water, everyone has played a role in this movement and in protecting the nation’s public health and the environment. EPA and its partners have cleaned up contaminated sites and turned them into economic engines for communities, reduced dangerous air pollution like mercury and sulfur dioxide and the greenhouse gases that are fueling climate change, removed contaminants from drinking water and cleaned up our nation’s most treasured waterways. The agency is also engaging in meaningful ways with environmental justice and overburdened communities to bring about positive changes in every single zip code.
As visitors explore the museum, they will learn about environmental conditions in the 1960s and 1970s before EPA was established. They will explore the progress that EPA and its partners have made as well as the work still to be done to ensure that everyone in this country has access to clean air to breathe, clean water to drink and clean land to play on. They will also learn what actions they can take to be a part of the nation’s environmental future. Whether it’s recycling, driving an electric vehicle, composting food waste, installing rooftop solar on their homes or planting native plants, each visitor can be an active participant in bringing awareness to the environmental issues that impact communities across the country.
For the remainder of May 2024, the museum will be open Tuesday through Thursday, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (closed federal holidays). Beginning in June 2024, the museum will be open Tuesday through Friday, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (closed federal holidays). To request to visit the museum at another date or time, please send an email to NEMEC@epa.gov.
For additional information on the museum, please visit the National Environmental Museum and Education Center page.