BY JULIAN C. SUMMERS

Michael Regan, the administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, will travel to Africa on January 22 to meet with government officials and local leaders in the field of environmental protection in an effort to build partnerships conducive to developing clean energy and protecting clean air.

Environmental protection was among the top priorities in U.S.-Africa relations set by President Joe Biden during the three-day U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit he convened in December 2022 in Washington, with heads of state and other top leaders from 49 African countries in attendance. Barely three months after the summit, during a lengthy nine-day visit to Africa, Vice President Kamala Harris delivered on the administration’s promise by having the U.S. private sector pledge over $7 billion in new commitments to help mitigate the environmental crisis in Africa, the least-polluter continent yet the one most affected.

EPA’s administrator Michael Regan’s upcoming visit to Africa during which he will visit Mozambique and Ghana is a welcome new step in the Biden White House’s commitment to tackle the environmental woes faced by Africa. “I’m excited to be going on this mission representing the Biden-Harris administration,” Regan said of the U.S. trip from Jan. 22-29. The mission will serve as the next step in President Joe Biden’s call to action at the 2022 U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit to expand substantive and meaningful partnerships with African countries, institutions, and people across the continent,” said Regan.

But he is not going on this trip alone. He invited along Derrick Johnson, the president of the oldest and largest civil rights organization in the United States, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, NAACP, which has an NGO status with the United Nations and has been involved for years in Africa to address the continent’s needs as far as climate change goes.

Michael S. Regan, a first at the helm of EPA

Sworn in on March 11, 2021 as the 16th administrator of EPA, Regan is the first African American and the second person of color to rise to the highest position at EPA. According to the website of this government agency that has gained in influence in recent years due to the worldwide climate crisis, Regan “developed a passion for the environment while hunting and fishing with his father and grandfather, and exploring the vast lands, waters, and inner Coastal Plain of North Carolina,” where he was born. He previously served as the Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). He is credited with securing the largest cleanup in U.S. history, having led complex negotiations for the cleanup of the Cape Fear River, which had been contaminated for years by the toxic chemicals per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS). He also established his home state’s “first-of-its-kind Environmental Justice and Equity Advisory board to better align social inequities, environmental protection, and community empowerment.”

A return home

The significance of these two African American giants’ trip to the motherland is not lost on observers. In an interview with the online magazines TheGrio, Johnson said: “Our history is tied to the diaspora, whether they are African-Caribbeans, African-Latinos, African-Brazilians, or Africans on the Continent. We are part of the human family with a distinctive history.”

“We have to know where we come from and what makes us who we are, and so I’m very excited to take this trip to do a little bit more exploration for myself, both personally and professionally,” Regan told TheGrio reporter. He added, “It’s critical that we connect back to Africa and understand where we come from and recognize that there are global partnerships that we need to strengthen in order for us to excel as human beings.”

During their visit to Accra, the two leaders are scheduled to visit a historic landmark in the nation’s capital, Accra: the W.E.B. Dubois Memorial Center created by the Ghanaian government in memory of the American sociologist, historian, author, civil rights activist, Pan-Africanist and founder the NAACP, who died in Accra on August 27 at the age of 95 and was buried there.