Perchlorate is a chemical used in solid fuel for missiles and rockets. Small amounts of perchlorate are used in car air bags, electronics, fireworks and fertilizer. Since the 1950s, over 870 million pounds of perchlorate have been manufactured in the United States. As a result of its manufacture, use and disposal, perchlorate is being discovered in soil, groundwater, drinking water, and irrigation water around the country. Perchlorate also occurs naturally in the environment, and has been found in the Texas and in the Southwestern United States. Perchlorate is the main ingredient in missile and rocket fuel and has been found in ground and surface water throughout the country since the 1950's.

In this issue:

• Our Pick for President: Why America Needs Barack Obama
• Clean Water Action Endorsed Candidates for 2008
• Electing a Greener Congress in 2008
• Volunteers Needed to Elect Pro-Environment Candidates!

Get the full newsletter (pdf, 539 kb)

In this issue of Clean Water Currents|Online:

The Electoral Map: Turning Red & Blue to Green

Clean Water Action's community organizers work to turn red and blue into green knowing that this election - from Congressional races to the Presidency - will determine whether or not the country turns the page on congressional gridlock and the Bush era of hostility to environmental issues.

Political Activism Translates to A Better World, A Clean, Safer Environment

John DeCock, Clean Water Action's CEO, explains more about our involvement in the political process, and how we work with supporters to hold government accountable.

Clean Water Currents|Online, Fall 2008, Volume 35, No. 2

Every presidential election cycle, there's a secret wish that the major party nominees will be as equally good on environmental and conservation issues, so forgoing the need to choose one over the other.

That is not the case in 2008. This year, there are clear and marked differences between the Democratic Party and the Republican Party nominees. And it is based on these significant differences, that Clean Water Action is endorsing Senator Barack Obama for President of the United States.

Clean Water Currents|Online, Fall 2008, Volume 35, No. 2

Clean Water Action endorses and works for the election of candidates as part of our focus on holding elected officials accountable for their actions on the environment.

John DeCock, CEO of Clean Water Action

Our political program is non partisan. We consider candidates from all parties and support those who demonstrate their commitment to environmental protection.

Clean Water Currents|Online, Fall 2008, Volume 35, No. 2

The 2008 elections provide an historic opportunity to shift the political balance of power in our country and create the kind of change that America desperately needs.

In addition to electing a president that will make the right choices for America, we need to elect enough congressional members to get us to the veto-proof magic numbers of 60 Senators and 261 Representatives who support protecting our waters, our health and our future through strong environmental policies.

Clean Water Currents|Online, Fall 2008, Volume 35, No. 2

With the sun setting on eight years of the most anti-environmental administration in modern history, the to-do list for the next President is a long one. Clean Water Action surveyed our members and staff and here's what we came up with as a short list of priorities for the next administration.

Clean Water Currents|Online, Fall 2008, Volume 35, No. 2

You be the judge.

One of the traps in this year's election cycle is to assume that no-one - not even the Republican nominee for president - could be worse than George W. Bush.

After almost eight years of watching inaction and rollback measures from the Bush administration on a wide-range of environmental and conservation issues, the temptation is to take the "anybody but" position.

Clean Water Currents|Online, Fall 2008, Volume 35, No. 2

Along the far eastern reaches of Pennsylvania, Bucks County is the kind of place political experts point to when talking about swing precincts and bellwether counties in battleground states.

Bucks County supported John Kerry in 2004 by 51-48 percent mirroring Pennsylvania as a whole. But two years later it narrowly failed to join other voters in the 8th Congressional District in backing Democratic challenger Patrick Murphy, an Iraq war vet who won a stunning victory over an incumbent Republican, winning by just 1,500 votes out of a quarter million cast.