Dirty Water Politics in the Senate

By Michael Kelly, Communications Director - Follow Michael on Twitter (@MichaelEdKelly) Two things: The drinking water for 1 in 3 of us is at risk of pollution and destruction. EPA wants to fix that and has proposed a strong, commonsense rule to protect clean water. Two more things: Polluters hate EPA's Clean Water Rule. And certain members of Congress are doing everything they can to help polluters stop the rule. Which brings us to this week's Pollute-A-Rama. This week the House and Senate are voting on their 2016 budget resolutions - the blueprints they'll use when writing spending bills later in the year - at the end of the week. Before the vote is final there will be dozens upon dozens of amendments. And, with the GOP in charge, most of those amendments weaken commonsense protections for our water, air, and communities. Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) has introduced a dirty water amendment to undermine the Clean Water rule. This is not exactly surprising - Senator Barrasso has taken every chance he can to get in the way of the rule. And this amendment is no different than any of the other bills or amendments that dirty water senators have introduced before. The goal is to stop the Clean Water rule and leave the drinking water for 1 in 3 Americans at risk. Americans support the Clean Water Rule. More than 800,000 people from Boston to Austin to Oakland called on EPA to protect the small streams and wetlands that feed the drinking water sources for more than 117 million Americans. Craft Brewers support the Clean Water Rule. Hunters, anglers, and outdoor recreations support the Clean Water Rule. Small businesses and local governments like Providence, RI, Pittsburgh, PA, and state legislators from Connecticut to Colorado support the Clean Water Rule. Senator Barrasso's amendment is an attack on drinking water. It ignores the science that says our water is connected. It ignores the fact the health of upstream tributaries directly impacts the health of larger lakes and rivers downstream. And it ignores that overwhelming public support for the Clean Water Rule. We have to stop this amendment. Please join us and send a message to your Senators on Twitter. Let them know that it's time to reject dirty water politics. Here are some sample tweets:

• Our #DrinkingWater is at risk. @SenJohnBarrasso's #DirtyWater amdt will keep it that way. Vote NO to #ProtectCleanWater
• A crash course in the wrong way to do things. @SenJohnBarrasso's #DirtyWater politics will make sure @EPA can't #ProtectCleanWater
• I'm counting on you, (MoC Handle) to #ProtectCleanWater and vote NO on @SenJohnBarrasso's #DirtyWater amendment
• #ProtectCleanWater! (MoC Handle) - stand up for #DrinkingWater and vote NO on @SenJohnBarrasso's #DirtyWater amendment.
• Tell your Senators to say NO to #DirtyWaterPolitics and vote NO on @SenJohnBarrasso's amdt. #ProtectCleanWater
• .@SenJohnBarrasso's #DirtyWater politics ignores the science that says it's time to #ProtectCleanWater