By: Robin Andrews/IFL Science You may not have heard of the Clean Water Rule, or even the Clean Water Act on which it’s based, but if you live in the US it has a direct impact on your life. Essentially, it ensures that all waterways that provide drinkable water to the US population remain protected and free from pollutants and toxins.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), under the leadership of the notoriously anti-science, climate denying, coal-friendly Scott Pruitt, is sneakily planning to revoke that rule. The idea that clean drinking water is of dubious importance would seem out of place at any point in human history – except, of course, it’s 2017.
Announced via a press release that was unleashed without much fanfare, the EPA, along with the US Army, wishes to scrap the Clean Water Rule under the auspices of a “substantive re-evaluation”, one which will aim to completely change which streams, wetlands, lakes, and so on will remain protected.
This move doesn’t come as any sort of surprise. Back in February, President Trump signed an executive order that aimed to “review” the Clean Water Rule. It was said at the time to be a move that would restore power to the individual states, and the same idea has been espoused this time around.
