Obama Takes Bold Executive Action To Protect America’s Drinking Water From Corporate Polluters

[babylonsister]

NOW Boehner is concerned about jobs?

Obama Takes Bold Executive Action To Protect America’s Drinking Water From Corporate Polluters
By: Jason Easley
Wednesday, May, 27th, 2015, 11:50 am


President Obama and his administration have announced bold new executive actions that have left Republicans fuming by protecting 33% of the nation’s clean drinking water supply.

In a statement, President Obama said:

For more than 40 years, American families and businesses across the country have counted on the Clean Water Act to protect the streams and wetlands we rely on for our way of life – from recreation to public health to a growing economy. In recent years, however, court decisions have led to uncertainty and a need for clarification. One in three Americans now gets drinking water from streams lacking clear protection, and businesses and industries that depend on clean water face uncertainty and delay, which costs our economy every day. Too many of our waters have been left vulnerable to pollution. That’s why I called on the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to clear up the confusion and uphold our basic duty to protect these vital resources.

Today, after extensive input from the American public, they’re doing just that – finalizing the Clean Water Rule to restore protection for the streams and wetlands that form the foundation of our nation’s water resources, without getting in the way of farming, ranching, or forestry. This rule will provide the clarity and certainty businesses and industry need about which waters are protected by the Clean Water Act, and it will ensure polluters who knowingly threaten our waters can be held accountable. My Administration has made historic commitments to clean water, from restoring iconic watersheds like the Chesapeake Bay and the Great Lakes to preserving more than a thousand miles of rivers and other waters for future generations. With today’s rule, we take another step towards protecting the waters that belong to all of us.

Republicans are already losing their minds and calling the new administration rule a land grab. Speaker of the House John Boehner said, “The administration’s decree to unilaterally expand federal authority is a raw and tyrannical power grab that will crush jobs. House Members of both parties have joined more than 30 governors and government leaders to reject EPA’s disastrous WOTUS rule. These leaders know firsthand that the rule is being shoved down the throats of hardworking people with no input, and places landowners, small businesses, farmers, and manufacturers on the road to a regulatory and economic hell.”

Boehner’s statement is just one example of the outcry from Congressional Republicans. Republicans are trying to hide the issue. The new rule does not give the federal government possession of any land or waterways. What the new rule does do is give these waterways federal protections from corporate polluters.

EPA head Gina McCarthy debunked the Republican claims of a land grab, “It does not interfere with private property rights or address land use. It does not regulate any ditches unless they function as tributaries. It does not apply to groundwater or shallow subsurface water, copper tile drains or change policy on irrigation or water transfer.”

more...

http://www.politicususa.com/2015/05/27/obama-takes-bold-executive-action-protect-americas-drinking-water-corporate-polluters.html

[Stardust]

1. Kick!

[Iliyah]

2. K & R

[GoneFishin]

3. I don't know why, but I still waste an eye roll in amazement to think that some people still vote

for these bird-brained lying Republicans (no offense to birds).

[nykym]

4. Now we need something done about

the corporations buying up water rights and stop privatization of municipal water.

The bottom line is all that matters to them and the higher it is the more we suffer.

[JDPriestly]

5. K&R. The Republicans are beyond crazy to question Obama's actions.

It's getting ridiculous. Republicans seem to forget that they and their children may one day drink the polluted water, and some of the pollution is hard to get rid of.

[rhett o rick]

6. I appreciate this move but am afraid that after the TPP is Fast Tracked right up our noses, this

ruling will be moot as it would interfere with the profits of corporations.