Defend Clean Water Act - Legislate Rules and Protections for All Communities

This Spring, I take pen in hand to write and urge you to block attempts by the EPA and the Trump Administration to weaken and/or roll back the current provisions of the Clean Water Act. In addition, we’d like to see further legislation, putting current regulations into codified law that our agencies, including Lee Zeldin’s EPA, must adhere to.   It should go without saying, but surveys show that Americans want a strong EPA and that regulations like the Clean Water Act are worth the cost. The increasing number of extreme climate events will make water a precious resource in every state, whether there’s a need for more water, or pollution threatens the water supplies owing to agricultural runoff of pesticides.   In addition, the Clean Water Act safeguards water sources from dirty fossil fuels by-products, like coal ash from polluting our waterways and groundwater. This is still a huge issue in those states have coal-fired and fossil fuel plants in everyday use.   The Clean Water Act will also reduce costs in healthcare for ordinary Americans, as well as avoid costly, and latent health issues that may arise years later.   As the Flint Michigan, and other cities lead contamination cases demonstrate, it’s also a matter of environmental justice, as poorer communities often are the first to be affected and have less power to fight back. This is horrifying, unfair, and undoubtedly violates our code of equal justice under the law.   We urge you to be a strong voice for our state in the area of water conservation and clean water. Please exercise your powers now to avoid a costly and unhealthy future for all people, across the nation. Thank you for your service.