America’s Clean Water Laws Are Under Assault
In 1969, the spectacle of the Cuyahoga river literally catching on fire inspired a movement of Americans to fight the unregulated dumping of waste into our rivers and streams.
That movement led a Democratic Congress and a Republican President to enact the Clean Water Act — a law that remains one of the most popular laws ever passed by Congress.
Today, our nation’s clean water laws are experiencing an
unprecedented assault.
Yes, Clean Water is Worth Fighting For!
It started with H.R. 2018, a bill in the House that would, according to a technical assessment by the EPA, “Overturn almost 40 years of Federal legislation by preventing EPA from protecting public health and water quality.”
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor brought up a number of additional dirty-water bills (disguised as “jobs” bills) that the House passed this fall. These bills included:
- Prohibiting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from updating rules on toxic mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants
- Preventing EPA from ever regulating coal ash dams like the one that failed at TVA’s Kingston plant in Tennessee in late 2008, spilling millions of gallons of toxic coal ash into the Tennessee and Emory Rivers.
We are monitoring these and other bills for introduction and movement in the Senate.
Think for a moment about what clean water means to you. A glass of cool water on a summer day, growing a garden, family fishing trips, putting your children in the bath — clean water is essential to our way of life. Isn’t that worth fighting for?
It took a movement to bring about the Clean Water Act- now we now need a movement to save it.
Sign the Red, White and Water Pledge and join the movement to protect our clean water! Then ask your friends to join this call to action.