Vanessa Ramos, (512) 586-1853, vanessa.ramos@sierraclub.org
ARKANSAS - The Trump administration today will strip Clean Water Act protections for more than half the nation’s wetlands and millions of miles of streams-- numbers confirmed by the administration’s own analysis. The cuts put drinking water sources for millions of people in the U.S. at risk and jeopardize the ability to counter floods, droughts, toxic algal blooms, groundwater depletion and other worsening water issues driven by the climate crisis.
The Clean Water Act rollbacks are the latest in a series of efforts by the Trump administration to gut critical health and environmental protections, including the National Environmental Policy Act and the expected rollback of the clean car standards.
In response, Arkansas Sierra Club Director Glen Hooks issued the following statement.
"Arkansas is home to some of the highest quality water in the country. Protecting our water is one of the most basic duties of our government, as we just witnessed in the successful effort to protect the Buffalo River. Arkansans everywhere place a high value on clean water.
Today, the Trump administration has given polluters a free pass to contaminate groundwater, destroy streams and wetlands and put our water at risk. Instead of protecting our water, this administration is making it easier for polluters to foul our water.
This administration can ignore science, the law and public opinion, but it won’t change the facts. The consequences of rollbacks to basic environmental safeguards will be felt for years to come. Sierra Club will continue to defend the Clean Water Act and other vital environmental protections as we work for healthy communities, both human and wild.”
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About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.