Protecting clean water is a cause that not only resonates with environmental types; it reverberates into the private sector too.
Clean Water Action (CWA) joined by the American Sustainable Business Council (ASBC) took to Federal Hill Park for a press conference to announce their successful work and the results of their latest poll, last Thursday morning.
The podium and a colorful display of children’s “protect clean water” drawings were set in front of the Baltimore Harbor, where in 2010 a coalition of businesses, nonprofit groups, and City agencies formed the “Healthy Harbor” initiative, which aimed to increase efforts to eliminate polluted runoff and trash in the Harbor and to achieve fishable, swimmable, drinkable water by 2020.
In the short time since the publication of the rule, Clean Water Action has collected 10,000 comments in Maryland alone, while mobilizing hundreds more every day.
ASBC highlighted the massive public and small business support for the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and US Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) proposal to protect clean water. According to the Council’s latest poll, a resounding 80% of small business owners support the proposal, alongside more than 10,000 Marylanders who have submitted comments to EPA through Clean Water Action so far.
Speaking organizations included Clean Water Action, the Environmental Protection Agency, the American Sustainable Business Council, and Baltimore City Councilman for District 1 – The Honorable James Kraft, and the League of Women Voters.
“American business has always depended on the availability of clean water for its success, and EPA’s regulation in the area historically has been a prime example of the vital partnership between business and government,” stated Richard Eidlin, Director of Policy for the ASBC. The American Sustainable Business Council represents 200,000 businesses, and more than 325,000 entrepreneurs, executives, managers, and investors nationwide.
So what does this all mean? Who wouldn’t want to protect clean water? You’d be surprised.
Over the past few decades, powerful special interests have worked to undermine the Clean Water Act, which have put our water at risk. For Marylanders whose water sources are at risk of losing protections, the status quo means they face the threat of increased contamination and cost.
This spring, the Obama Administration proposed a long-overdue Clean Water Act rule to end the confusion over which streams and wetlands are protected by law. These vital water resources were originally protected under the 1972 Clean Water Act (Nixon), but have been at risk for more than a decade because of polluter-friendly court decisions and subsequent Bush (43) Administration policies. These policies left over half of all stream miles in the U.S. vulnerable to pollution and destruction.
Now, you might think, “we’ll BP had a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and was held responsible.” You would be right, BUT this proposed rule doesn’t apply to large water bodies like the Gulf, the Inner Harbor, or the Chesapeake Bay. It affects the smaller tributaries that keep our large water bodies full year-round.
In fact, the proposed rule affects waters like the creeks and seasonal streams running through your back yards, children’s schools, and communities.
Current protections for seasonal, headwater, or ephemeral streams are so lacking that if a developer were to dump its pollutants and toxins in the creek behind your house, it is likely EPA would not have jurisdiction to hold these polluters accountable.
For Maryland, that represents some 2,210 stream miles, leaving 77% of the State’s source water at an increased risk of pollution and destruction. In the Baltimore City area, this represents the drinking water supply of roughly 1.6 million people, 100% of Baltimore City residents.
At Clean Water Action, we’re mobilizing a broad coalition to show the Tea Party and the like that sectors such as farming, clean tech, craft brewing, wineries, sportsman, wildlife recreation, and children’s health all benefit from protected clean water sources.
So, despite what groups like the Chamber of Commerce and Farm Bureau claim, businesses support the proposal and are speaking up. The nation-wide poll released by the ASBC shows that most small business owners support exactly the same protection of clean water that EPA has proposed in its Waters of the U.S. rule.
Marylanders overwhelmingly support the Administration’s proposal because they understand that if the state’s goal is fishable, swimmable, drinkable water, you have to protect all water.
Full video of press conference:
