Despite the U.S. House of Representatives’ approval last week of H.R. 2018: Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act of 2011, it remains likely the bill may fail in the Senate. But the fact that the bill did pass in the House by a 239-184 vote is testament to how short-sighted gain can jeopardize even the most basic of our human needs. By restricting the EPA’s authority over clean water regulations and giving states the authority to set their own clean water standards, H.R. 2018 will guarantee that special interests can win out over the greater public good.

The Huffington Post’s Sherwood Boehlert wrote: “It’s not hard to understand why leaving clean water policy entirely to the states doesn’t work. First, waters don’t follow state boundaries.” Exactly. What happens in the Upper Midwest farmlands affects the seafood nurseries of the Gulf of Mexico, and what happens in the valleys of the Mid-Atlantic impacts the health of the Chesapeake Bay. We need broader information sharing and will need increasing resources to protect our streams, rivers and wetlands. The future of our priceless ecological services, basic things like the drinking water on which we all depend, lie in the balance.

Read More:

House votes to limit EPA’s say over state water standards
http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/171383-house-votes-to-limit-epas-say-over-state-water-standards

H.R. 2018 Would Undermine the Clean Water Act and Should Provoke Backlash http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sherwood-boehlert/hr-2018-clean-water-act_b_897272.html