By Neil Bhaerman, Communications Associate – Follow Neil on Twitter – @neilanalien.
Hi, I want to tell you about a very important EPA rule that ensures that the Clean Water Act actually keeps our waterways clean.
No, don’t go! This is important to beer!
Over a decade ago, our federal government started interpreting the Clean Water Act — a law that intends to make all of America’s waterways safe for fishing, swimming and drinking — in a way that made it unclear whether drinking water for 117 million Americans was even protected.
Since then, hundreds of thousands of Americans have gotten active in the fight to restore Clean Water Act protections by contacting their legislators, the White House, and EPA, and getting their friends and neighbors to do the same.
We kept working on this issue for 12 years, because we knew it was critical to keeping our country’s water resources protected and safe for recreation,
for fishing,
or, of course, for drinking.
All of that work and advocacy paid off in late May when EPA announced their Clean Water Rule that fixes how the Clean Water Act is interpreted to restore protection to 2 million miles of streams and millions of acres of wetlands. And that’s something to celebrate.
But big business and conservative media pundits are pushing tired old misinformation about the Clean Water Rule, like saying it will “hurt business.”
What they ignore, is that protecting clean water will safeguard businesses that depend on protected water resources- such as outdoor tourism,
and brewing beer.
In addition, the Clean Water rule will also provide annual benefits of $318 to $514 Million by doing things like reducing pollution and protecting communities from flooding.
The only businesses that will be affected by the new rule are polluting industries that, for too long, have been able to buy their way out of being responsible stewards of the environment.
Now get out there and enjoy the protected waters of the United States.
