Yesterday evening, the House of Representatives passed The Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act (HR 2018), a bill that turns back the clock 40 years on the environmental and public health protections in the Clean Water Act. This brazen attack on public protections is the closest big industrial polluters have ever come to completely gutting laws that protect Americans’ ability to access clean water. Colorado Democratic Rep. Jared Polis perhaps said it best:
Let’s not fool ourselves, the bill before us today isn’t just about the role of federal government, the bill isn’t just a push for state sovereignty; rather, this bill would satisfy two very niche special interests at the cost of the American public. This bill is designed to benefit mountaintop coal mining companies and large factory farms.
Polis is, of course, absolutely right. Meanwhile, cowards like Nick Rahall keep up this charade that this is somehow about “protecting Appalachian jobs.” Inconveniently for them, there are facts. The FACTS ARE: Mining jobs in Central Appalachia have increased since the MOU because companies are doing less mountaintop removal and relying... Read more
