Protect America's Waters
Shortsighted legal decisions have left millions of acres of wetlands and more than half of the nation’s streams vulnerable to pollution and development — putting the drinking water for 117 million Americans at risk. Now, polluters’ allies in Congress are trying to block President Obama from ever restoring protections to America’s waters. We need to show massive public support for crucial clean water protections.
At risk: More than half of America’s streams
Right now, more than half of America’s streams and millions of acres of wetlands are vulnerable to pollution and development. Polluters can dump into streams, developers can pave over wetlands to build strip malls, and the cops on the environmental beat can’t do a thing about it. And it’s not just small streams and wetlands that will suffer — these waterways are the same ones that feed our great waters and keep them clean.
Polluters are fighting to block protections
For nearly 40 years, the Clean Water Act has helped states across the nation care for and clean up our waterways. Thanks in large part to this groundbreaking law, rivers are no longer so polluted that they catch fire, as Ohio’s Cuyahoga infamously did in 1969. Still, much work remains to be done.
Unfortunately, over the past decade, polluters and irresponsible developers have used the courts to put Clean Water Act protections in legal limbo, arguing that the law doesn’t cover the smaller streams and wetlands that feed and clean America’s great waters. They want to throw out nearly 40 years of Clean Water Act protection, leaving polluting industries free to dump into our streams and pave over our wetlands without asking for permission.
Recently, President Obama took the first major step in decades for safer waters by proposing new guidelines to protect our rivers and streams from pollution. But already the coal and oil industries, Big Agriculture, and their allies in Congress are doing everything they can to take this clean water victory off the books. We know that a win for big polluters means less protection for our waterways.
Together we can win
Protecting our waters is a big challenge. Together, we can ensure that our leaders work to protect all our lakes, streams and wetlands across the country. Join our campaign by sending President Obama a message today.
Tell President Obama to not back down on protecting America's waters.
Key Facts
- More than half of American’s streams and millions of acres of wetlands are vulnerable to pollution and development.
- Polluters dumped 232 million pounds of toxic chemicals into our waters in a single year.
- Sen. Rand Paul introduced a bill that would block the president from ever restoring protections to our waters, and take our clean water laws back to the days before the Clean Water Act.