Given the current conservative lean of SCOTUS, the outcomes of this case are looking dire — under the new language the court is likely to adopt, over 50% of the Nation’s wetlands would be excluded from protection.
John: Today, the Supreme Court heard arguments in a major case on the Clean Water Act that has the potential to decide the future of the government’s role in fighting water pollution.
The case, Sackett v. EPA, is about one specific line of the landmark 1972 legislation that defines what “waters of the United States” the EPA has jurisdiction to protect.
Given the current conservative lean of SCOTUS, the outcomes of this case are looking dire — under the new language the court is likely to adopt, over 50% of the Nation’s wetlands would be excluded from protection.
The conservative extremists on the court have signaled their intent to limit the definition of “waters of the United States” to only waters with a continuous surface connection with a relatively permanent body of water. This seemingly-innocuous legalistic definition would in effect throw out decades of Clean Water Act jurisprudence and decimate the EPA’s ability to ensure our water stays clean.
The result: corporations and private interests would have license to pollute and fill in these wetlands at their leisure with disastrous consequences. Many towns and cities receive their drinking water from bodies that are connected to wetlands. What happens if SCOTUS allows these wetlands to become overrun with pollutants?
At a time when multiple environmental crises are unfolding all around us, we should be working to build on existing environmental protections rather than allowing this radical Supreme Court to overturn them. It’s painfully obvious that this is what Trump’s conservative majority was intended for — delivering sweeping victories to an anti-environment GOP.
The good news is that there are ways to fight back. If SCOTUS fails in its responsibility to keep our water clean, Congress has the power to fight back and pass new legislation clarifying the proper definition. But that’s why it’s so crucial we re-elect our SEEC members so Democrats can maintain their majority in Congress.
Thanks to your help in 2020, SEEC PAC was able to re-elect over 95% of our pro-environment members to the U.S. House of Representatives — defying the odds on a night where Democrats lost seats. Now we are counting on you to help our SEEC members pass climate, clean energy and environmental justice policies in the 117th Congress while we undo the damage of the Trump Administration. But if you'd like to receive fewer emails, we understand. You can click here to only get our most important messages, or you can unsubscribe.
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