Loreen Targos and Nicole Cantello--RIP Amisha Patel
From The Ben Joravsky Show by Ben Joravsky
April 30, 2026 · 56 min · Episode 2497
About this episode
The episode discusses the legacy of community activist Amisha Patel and the ongoing threats to environmental protections under political pressures.
The great community activist Amisha Patel died last week of cancer. At age 50–way too young. Ben riffs. And two Amisha-like fighters for justice return to talk about Trump and Lee Zeldin’s attempts to turn the Environmental Protection Agency into a destroyer of the clean water and air it’s supposed to protect. Beware of gaslighting buzzwords like “energy dominance.” Also be warned—it could get worse before it gets better. As Zeldin asks Congress to cut the EPA budget by 52 percent. Loreen is an EPA scientist and Nicole is President of AFGE Local 704, the union that represents EPA employees. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
People in this episode
Host: Ben Joravsky
Guests: Loreen Targos, Nicole Cantello
Topics covered
- community activism
- environmental protection
- politics
- EPA budget cuts
- justice fighters
Keywords
- Amisha Patel
- EPA
- Lee Zeldin
- environmental protection
- community activism
- justice
- politics
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Environmental Protection Agency, AFGE Local 704
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