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Clean Water Action's national campaigns work on Federal laws and policy. State offices campaign on the same issues locally. Get more information about our work in each state and around the country.
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environmental health
Tell Your Senators: Don't Vote to Weaken the Clean Air Act!
Don't let the Senate stall progress! Tell them we need strong legislation on climate and energy, not attacks on the Clean Air Act.
Your U.S. Senators could be asked to vote soon on an amendment that could take away the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) ability to enforce the Clean Air Act. Late last year, EPA announced that global warming emissions represent a danger to public health just like other forms of air pollution, and that the Clean Air Act needs to be put into action to reduce this pollution.
Clean Water Action is working to strengthen and defend our important laws that protect public health and the environment...but we can't do it without your help.
The science is clear: climate change has already begun to devastate our water resources, and we must act now to head off the worst impacts on public health, on water and other natural resources, and on our economy. Some U.S. Senators and industry lobbyists want to undermine the Clean Air Act. This is a dangerous precedent and flies in the face of what science tells us our government needs to do right now.
Ripple Effects
Minnesotan’s Stories on our Environment and Health
How do new threats to our water and health impact Minnesotan’s lives and communities? In Ripple Effects, Minnesotans share their personal stories on how global problems such as climate change, toxic chemicals and polluted waters are being experienced locally.
Below is a sample of the stories covered in this project. To find additional stories about a particular issue, click on the issue links below.
Vicki Hendricksen: Distrust of Drinking Water
Many Minnesotans pour themselves a glass of water from their kitchen faucet without a second thought. However, more and more people are becoming concerned about the safety of their drinking water.
“I don’t trust our water,” states Vicki Hendricksen, a Woodbury mom of three, “we get all our water for drinking and cooking from our fridge because it’s filtered.” When Vicki moved to Woodbury two years ago to be closer to work, she learned the city’s water was contaminated with PFCs— chemicals used in non-stick pans, stain resistant clothing, and thousands of other products. Even though the level of PFCs in Woodbury’s water is considered to be at safe levels according to the state, Vicki has her doubts. “I wonder if the level they set is really acceptable—will this change years later when they learn more?”
Read the full story and see the video here
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To share your story, email us at mncwa@cleanwater.org.
Rocket Fuel in California Drinking Water? Take action now!
The drinking water of between 15 and 20 million Californians is contaminated with perchlorate, a salt that is used as the primary component of solid rocket fuel.
Perchlorate poses a health threat by impacting the thyroid's ability to take up iodide and produce thyroid hormone. Even a short term reduction in thyroid hormone can irreparably impair brain development in fetuses and infants, and impact iodide deficient individuals and those already with thyroid problems.
Despite these serious health impacts, there is no federal drinking water standard for perchlorate thanks to pressure from the White House and polluters such as the Department of Defense.
Take action now: Tell Governor Schwarzenegger that we do not want rocket fuel in our drinking water and that we support lowering the perchlorate public health goal.
Clean Water Action Campaign Victories in Connecticut
Since 1998, Clean Water Action has won a number of legislative and regulatory victories.
2008
Lead Levels in Children's Products Restricted
Clean Water Action and allies in the Coalition for a Safe & Healthy Connecticut turned back intense opposition from big chemical companies, the toy industry, and dozens of in-state retailers and recently won new legislation to phase out toxic lead and asbestos in children's products.
Reject Energy Industry Accounting Tricks
The Clean Air Act requires polluters to disclose their levels of emissions. Now producers of "biomass" power want a blanket exemption from reporting their emissions of heat-trapping carbon dioxide pollution. Tell the EPA to hold all energy producers accountable for their pollution.
Biomass is a term that includes many different fuel types such as trees; construction, wood, and agricultural wastes; and more. Due to the differences among types of biomass, it makes no sense to assume that none of them contribute to global warming. Some forms of biomass can be part of the clean energy solution, but science shows that if done wrong, biomass can increase greenhouse gas emissions, undermining our climate goals.
Recycle in Philadelphia and Get Rewarded
Do you live in Philadelphia? Do you recycle? Are you getting reward points?
You can start earning reward points every time you put your recycling out curbside. Redeem these points online and use them to save at over 200 local businesses.
Miami-Dade To Update Land Use Plan - Hold The Line Gears Up!
For the past six years, Clean Water Action has coordinated a diverse coalition called Hold the Line (HTL) whose mission is to ensure that development does not take place outside of the Urban Development Boundary (UDB).
Every seven years, Miami-Dade updates its Comprehensive Land-Use Plan officially thru the process known as the Evaluation and Appraisal Report (EAR). The plan takes a comprehensive look at current vacant and developed land and forecasts population and development trends for the future. This large scale mapping project also designates what land can be used for commercial, agricultural, and residential use and looks at the impact it has on schools, transportation, water supply, and economic conditions.
Clean Water Action Victory For The Future of The Everglades
For the past two years, Clean Water Action has been part of a coalition working to get the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) to purchase critical lands which would help with Everglades restoration and improve south Florida's water quality.
On August 12th the SFWMD made a landmark decision to purchase 26,800 acres of land which would help restore America's Everglades.
The land being purchased is sugar and citrus fields that will eventually be taken out of production and used for the pre-treatment and the storage of clean water. The money for this purchase was already earmarked by SFWMD so this is no taxpayer burden.
Victory on Rock Mining in Palm Beach County!
Clean Water Action, its members and allies had a major victory on August 26th when the Palm Beach County Commission voted to enact a one-year moratorium on new rocking mining in the County.
