Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim Delivers Remarks in Commemoration of Earth Day

Good morning, Environment and Natural Resources Division, and friends and happy Earth Day! I am thrilled to see all of you. Thank you for volunteering to be here on this beautiful day.

I’d like to thank Washington Parks & People for continuing its partnership with ENRD with this project, and for all the work they do to create beautiful greenspaces in the District of Columbia.

Today, our work is focused on this park that is now named in honor of Marvin Gaye, who lived nearby and came here to write music as he grew up.

It is especially fitting that we are here for Earth Day because Marvin Gaye was an advocate for the environment and environmental justice. In 1971, he sang: “things ain't what they used to be. Where did all the blue skies go? Poison is the wind that blows.”

It is my great pleasure to work with the ENRD team who fight, every day, to address the concerns Marvin Gaye raised.

A team of dedicated public servants who do not accept the world as it is, but who work to better the environment throughout the nation.

And luckily today we get to do that work outside, continuing our longstanding tradition of celebrating Earth Day by doing in-person, local projects like this one.

Please think of your work here today as a celebration and a continuation of all we have achieved this year. Indeed, today, I’m very pleased to announce, we are releasing our Accomplishments Report for fiscal year 2022. I encourage you not only to read it, but also to share it with anyone who may be interested in our work and in working with us.

In the past year, ENRD has taken great strides in advancing the interests of the American people in environmental and natural resources matters.

We have fought against the climate crisis, through our enforcement efforts and our defense of client agencies. We have worked to provide a voice and relief to overburdened environmental justice communities through inclusive approaches and processes. We have worked to hold polluters accountable.

And we have had remarkable success in those efforts, with favorable outcomes in 100% of our civil enforcement cases, 91% of our civil defensive cases, 95% of our criminal cases, and 100% of our condemnation cases.

This has been a year we should all be proud of. And today, I want us to keep in mind how all actions taken to protect our world add up.

Thank you for listening and thank you in advance for everything we will achieve together – today, and in the upcoming years.