Dear NRDC Activist,

Trump’s EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers have just declared open season on our nation’s waterways.

They want to change the criteria that determine which waterways are protected from harmful pollution under the Clean Water Act — opening up the vast majority of our wetlands and streams to corporate polluters.

We need these protections to stand. The administration is accepting public comments on this latest attack on clean water, but only until October 9. Make your voice heard in defense of our critical waterways now.

Before the Clean Water Act, sewage, oil, chemical wastes, and heavy metals were dumped indiscriminately into our rivers, streams, and wetlands … polluters devastated our drinking water sources … and industry harmed precious ecosystems with little consequence.

A Supreme Court decision several years ago severely curtailed the law’s protections, especially for wetlands, threatening the law’s achievements and increasing harm to our waterways. And now, the administration is doubling down on its efforts to take us back to rivers choked with pollution, waterways unsafe for fishing and swimming, and contaminated drinking water.

The first step to stopping them is to raise a public outcry: Submit a public comment demanding clean water protections.

The Trump administration’s first proposal to give our waters to polluters last November would have left about 81 percent of wetlands without protection. Nearly 24,000 NRDC supporters like you voiced their opposition to that plan.

This most recent proposal is even more devastating: Almost all of our nation’s wetlands and over three-quarters of our streams would be opened to pollution and destruction… and we need your help again.

Wetlands are critical for:

• Clean drinking water. Wetlands filter nitrogen (which can cause dangerous algae outbreaks) and toxic metals from water as it flows toward drinking water sources.
• Protections against extreme weather. Wetlands act as natural flood barriers, soaking up massive amounts of water during storm surges before they can damage communities — events that are getting more frequent and more severe with worsening climate change.
• Healthy ecosystems. Even though they only cover about 5 percent of the continental United States, wetlands support nearly half of all species listed as threatened or endangered.

We must show this administration we won’t be ignored. Raise your voice opposing this latest attack on wetlands — and help us overwhelm the EPA — by submitting a public comment before October 9.

Public comments are the best way to create a public record and it’s a critical first step to building a case against this dangerous administration. The government is legally obligated to consider your input. And if they ignore the public, NRDC can sue the Trump administration on behalf of members like you.

While we mobilize nationwide public opposition to these attacks on clean water, NRDC is preparing to go to court if the Trump administration pursues their reckless plan to gut the Clean Water Act. We have a long history of ensuring clean water for all and have already fought multiple times in court and won to protect waters covered by the Clean Water Act and hold polluters accountable.

With your help, we can win. Join the outcry. Submit a public comment in defense of our waterways today.

Sincerely,

Jon Devine
Director, Freshwater Ecosystems, NRDC