Protecting clean water should be a priority for Congress.
A
broad coalition of hunting, fishing and environmental groups
collectively support the passage of the Clean Water Restoration Act of
2008. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee held a public
hearing this morning on the pending bill.
The following statement is from the coalition of groups listed below:
“For more than 35 years, the Clean Water Act has successfully safeguarded America’s
rivers, lakes, streams, wetlands and other waters from pollution and
destruction. When we protect clean water, we’re ensuring a future for
our children to enjoy the same streams, rivers, lakes and wetlands
where we fished, swam, hunted and played.
“The Supreme Court and
the Bush administration have placed vital Clean Water Act protections
in doubt for many important waters, making it easier to pollute and
destroy these waters. Corporations and developers are spending millions
to defeat this bill, because taking responsibility for safeguarding
clean water cuts into company profits.
“Without the Clean Water
Restoration Act, legal questions will continue to haunt the Clean Water
Act’s programs that prevent developers from paving over thousands of
acres of wetlands that prevent floods and provide habitat, or to
prevent, mercury, dioxin, oil and other chemicals from polluting
streams, lakes and other water bodies. These resources are crucial –
for instance, drinking water systems serving more than 110 million
Americans derive some of their supply from sources containing the kinds
of streams that have been put in jeopardy.
“We applaud Sen. Russ
Feingold and the other 20 Senators co-sponsoring the Clean Water
Restoration Act for their leadership on this important issue. It is
time for our Senators and Representatives to make a choice – will they
stand up to protect the waters where we hunt, fish, drink and recreate,
or will they stand with polluters who flood our drinking water with
chemicals and bury the streams, wetlands, lakes and rivers meant to
support wildlife?
“We call on the 110th Congress to stop the
unraveling of the Clean Water Act by enacting the Clean Water
Restoration Act into law this year.”
* American Rivers * Clean Water Network * Earthjustice * Environment America * Izaak Walton League of America
* League of Conservation Voters * National Wildlife Federation *
Natural Resources Defense Council * Sierra Club * Southern
Environmental Law Center * Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership * Trout Unlimited *
