Our country’s lakes, rivers and streams give life to ecosystems and people alike from coast to coast. Now it’s time we protect them as the life-giving resources they are.
We outline our program priorities for 2024, which includes protecting some of North Carolina's oldest trees, securing more funding for North Carolina's threatened wildlife, and investing in more clean, renewable energy.
The Biden administration canceled mining leases near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness -- a place that our network first helped protect way back in 1978.
Congress is providing more funding for infrastructure to help keep our waters clean.
With North Carolinians returning to local beaches this summer, a new report warns that more work is needed to ensure that all waters are safe for swimming. In 2020, 87 North Carolina beaches were potentially unsafe for swimming on at least one day and 7 of those beaches were unsafe on at least 25% of the days they were tested according to Safe for Swimming?, Environment North Carolina Research and Policy Center’s annual analysis of bacteria testing. The report comes as Congress considers investments in water infrastructure.
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee advanced the Water Quality Protection and Job Creation Act of 2021 (H.R. 1915) on Wednesday. The bill would authorize $40 billion over five years for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) program that provides communities with low-cost financing for clean water infrastructure projects. Additionally, H.R. 1915 includes provisions designed to both assist small or financially disadvantaged communities and dedicate 15 percent of the funding to state grants for green infrastructure improvements.
"With today’s passage of this bill, we’re one step away from putting a lock and key on funding that has always been intended for conservation projects -- yet consistently diverted to other purposes. We’re closer to adopting a new consciousness for today’s world, that our lives are made richer if surrounded by more nature, rather than more extracted resources."
