Michael Kelly - Director of Communications

"We will not march back to what was, but move to what shall be a country that is bruised, but whole, benevolent, but bold, fierce, and free. We will not be turned around or interrupted by intimidation because we know our inaction and inertia will be the inheritance of the next generation."  -- Amanda Gorman, Youth Poet Laureate, January 20, 2021

I was angry.

In the weeks and months leading up to Election Day, Clean Water Action didn’t just work to turn out as many votes as possible for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, along with other clean water leaders from mayors’ offices to state houses to Congress. We were also planning for what would happen on Election Day and once the polls closed. There was a genuine concern that we might face a constitutional crisis, that millions of voters would be wrongly disenfranchised, that our elections systems could have broken down.

Breathe.

Election Day has come and gone and we are pretty much where we expected to be -- in the waiting room. We may be here for a couple days, maybe even longer.

This is OK, this is how it should be.

Because every vote counts.

In early 2016 I was out with some colleagues and one of them said, “We elected Reagan twice, Trump could win.” I chuckled and said “OK, boomer” to myself.

Welp...

As my friend, Neil, recently wrote, everything we thought could happen under a Trump administration has. And then some. 

A giant, heartfelt thank you from Clean Water to everyone who joins in the fight to protect clean water -- from the team at Clean Water Action and Clean Water Fund!

Thanks to members and supporters like you, we have slowed the Dirty Water Agenda and made sure the conversation in Washington DC and state houses and city halls across the country was about prioritizing people and protecting our water and health. 

We couldn't do it without you, seriously. Scroll down to see a few thank you notes from our teams across the country.

Today, in a blatant political attack, Andrew Wheeler told California that the state  “needs to fulfill its obligation to protect its water bodies and, more importantly, public health."

That’s rich coming from the head of Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency.

Today EPA announced “See a bloom, give it room”, a contest for high school students to make a video that “promotes awareness of harmful algal blooms” and “how to spot and steer clear of them.” It doesn’t mention what EPA should be doing to stop them.

Today the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) unveiled its latest attack on the Clean Water Act and protections for our water and communities. Don’t worry if you’ve lost count -- this is the third or fourth this year -- and more are coming. 

What did EPA propose?

I’m in Kansas City this week, and it’s not just for BBQ and jazz and the Negro League Baseball Museum (though those are nice perks). I’m here because the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)is holding the only public hearing on its scheme to strip Clean Water Act protections from millions of miles of streams and more than half of the nation’s wetlands.

We just got our hands on EPA's Dirty Water Rule and it's what we thought it would be -- a direct assault on the Clean Water Act. The Dirty Water Rule could have easily been written by the corporate special interests who have wanted to peel back protections since the Clean Water Act was passed more than 45 years ago.