As the new home of WISPIRG's environmental work, Wisconsin Environment can be contacted with any questions regarding this news release.
Washington,
D.C. – U.S. Senator Russ Feingold has been honored as a “Clean Water
Champion” by the Clean Water Network, a coalition of over 1000
national, regional, state, and local organizations dedicated to
protecting water quality. Feingold received the award for his efforts
to reaffirm protection for the nation’s waters by introducing the Clean
Water Authority Restoration Act. Feingold’s bill would reaffirm the
original intent of the Clean Water Act, passed over 30 years ago, to
protect this nation’s waters.
“I’m
honored to be recognized by these organizations and their members who
work hard every day to ensure this nation’s natural resources are
protected,” Feingold said. “I will continue working to ensure that
lakes, rivers, and wetlands in Wisconsin and throughout the country
receive the protection promised by Congress 30 years ago.”
“We
are grateful for Senator’s Feingold leadership on the Clean Water
Authority Restoration Act and his continued commitment to obtaining
Congressional clarification that all waters of the United States are
subject to the Clean Water Act. This is a pivotal time for Wisconsin’s
15,000 lakes and its rivers and wetlands that provide clean drinking
water and important wildlife habitat. All citizens – whether a
concerned parent, hunter, or environmentalist – need to call on
Congress to enact Senator Feingold’s bill to maintain key water
protections that have been in place for over 30 years,” said Dan
Kohler, State Director for the Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group
(WISPIRG).
Two
recent Supreme Court decisions have undermined the ability of the
federal government to protect the nation’s streams, ponds and wetlands
under the Clean Water Act, putting more and more of the nation’s
valuable resources at risk. These decisions directly affect the safety
of our drinking water, habitats for endangered wildlife and fragile
ecosystems around the country. Feingold’s Clean Water Authority
Restoration Act would end the legal wrangling about what Congress meant
when it passed that landmark law in 1972. The bill re-establishes
protection for all waters historically covered by the Clean Water Act
and makes clear that Congress’s primary concern in 1972 was to protect
the nation's waters from pollution, rather than just sustain the
navigability of waterways.
