"We all live downstream" is more than just a slogan or a blog title, it is the truth of our drinking and sporting waters in America.

You've seen the reports on "gender-bending" fish in waterways around the country, and pharmaceutical drugs detected in drinking water sources. And the thousands of water pollution or safe drinking water violations that go unpunished each year.

For every "regulated" contaminant there are tens of thousands for which safety standards have yet to be set. Under-funded government agencies are years behind in meeting environmental cleanup, research and health protection targets.

We need to move away from our system of after-the-fact treatment and clean-up, which requires the conclusive proof of harm only us human lab rats can provide, before action is even considered.

Looking upstream means holding companies accountable for their products' "downstream" impacts. Proof of safety should be required before any new chemical enters the marketplace, rather than proof of harm once the contaminant shows up in our water and our bodies.

Our idea to look upstream to protect our waters from toxic pollution has made it to the final round of voting in Change.org's Ideas for Change in America competition...and you helped put it there! Now, please vote and ask your friends to vote to make our idea that every American should have access to clean, safe water free from toxic pollution #1 of the Top 10 Ideas for Change in America!

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.

Help make sure all of America's waters are protected. Tell your Representative to restore the Clean Water Act!

For three decades, the Clean Water Act protected America's waters from industrial pollution, oil spills, sewage and outright destruction. Recent interpretations of the law have put drinking water sources for 110 million Americans in jeopardy of losing protections.

Big polluters are talking to our Representatives, claiming the Clean Water Act should not cover numerous wetlands, streams, rivers and lakes that have been historically protected. In just one year more than 500 enforcement cases have been dropped by the federal Environmental Protection Agency and Justice Department.

We cannot go back to the days of dirty water. Congress must reverse this damage and pass legislation to repair the Clean Water Act this year.

Proposed legislation restates and clarifies the original intent of the Clean Water Act - to protect all waters of the United States. Please take a moment to e-mail your Representatives and urge them to send legislation restoring the Clean Water Act to President Obama's desk this year!

Take Action: Tell your Representatives to restore the Clean Water Act.

post by Christine LeMieux, Global Warming and Energy Programs Coordinator

While media headlines as of late are dominated by the latest healthcare happenings on the Hill, progress on climate and energy legislation continues. Both issues are related to critical questions about how we will take care of our public health and our economy in the coming decades. Over the past month, 6 Senate committees have held hearings and action is expected after Congress returns from recess in September. 

Clean Water Restoration Act is key to safeguarding water resources for millions of Americans

Washington, DC - Today, Clean Water Action applauds passage of the Clean Water Restoration Act in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee by a vote of 12 - 7. Clean Water Action also supports the efforts of the committee to meet the needs of agriculture, while going a long way toward restoring the historic protections of the Clean Water Act.

"This vote is a strong rejection of the Bush Administration's "No Protection Policy" that threatened the drinking water sources for at least 110 million people," said Clean Water Action President John DeCock.

Beginning in early 2003, special interests pressured the Bush Administration to put policies in place that confused and delayed permits under the Clean Water Act and limited enforcement of the Act's programs. These policies, coupled with misinterpretations of U.S. Supreme Court decisions, brought enforcement of the Clean Water Act to a virtual halt and left America's water supplies and public health safeguards at risk.