Yesterday, the Supreme Court made it abundantly clear that no aspect of federal environmental and climate law is safe from its radical agenda.
What began in last year’s assault on clean air in West Virginia v. EPA has now expanded to the Clean Water Act in Sackett v. EPA. Now, in a 5-4 ruling by the extreme conservatives, the Supreme Court has stripped the EPA’s authority to police water pollution in millions of acres of wetlands across the country.
In limiting the coverage only to wetlands that have a ‘continuous surface connection’ to bodies of water, the Court has aligned itself with the Trump Administration’s Dirty Water Rule, which was projected to result in 50 percent of wetlands losing federal protection.
And without federal protections for our wetlands, we can expect to see a devastating impact to water quality and flood control across the country.
This is a textbook abuse of power. By asserting itself as the prime authority on U.S. environmental policy ahead of both Congress and agency experts, the Supreme Court is eroding long standing clean water protections AND leaving drinking water for millions of Americans vulnerable to pollution.
Our 92 SEEC Members know that clean drinking water isn’t a privilege — it’s a necessity. That’s why they’re committed to fighting these rollbacks on critical environmental protections and expanding the number of SEEC Members who will fight back against this ultra-conservative Supreme Court’s ruling.
This fight is far from over. Our Members are working to draft immediate environmental legislation in Congress to codify the environmental safeguards and policies that we’ve been able to take for granted for decades, but we need a pro-climate majority to get it done.
Thank you for standing with us.