"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!
Yesterday Change.org announced they would extend the first round of voting in their "Ideas for Change in America" competition for one more week. We now have until February 25th to make clean, safe water a priority for change in America.
If you have not voted already, please join your fellow Clean Water Action supporters and help push our ideas into the second round of voting. It's easy. It's quick, and, best of all, it's free!
A New York Times series on America's water supply is raising serious concerns about the amount of unregulated chemicals in the country's drinking water and the EPA's outdated monitoring system.
Guests
A Consumer's Union investigation found Bisphenol A, a hormone-disrupting chemical, in several major food and products some of which were marked "BPA free."
Clean Water Action's Mia Davis is interviewed in this report on the NBC Nightly News.
Learn more about BPA in the report Baby's Toxic Bottle
The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) passed the Clean Water Restoration Act by a party line vote of 12 - 7 on June 18, 2009. The US House, which has yet to take action on legislation to restore the historic protections of the Clean Water Act, is expected to begin the process this fall when the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure will introduce a version similar to that passed by the Senate EPW.
Take Action: Tell your Representative to fix the Clean Water Act.
On September 29, 2009, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson spoke to the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco. In her remarks Administrator Jackson declared "updating our country's regulations and laws on chemicals and toxics" to be of the highest priority saying "...understanding the risks posed by chemicals, and doing our utmost to make sure they are safe" was essential to restoring the public's trust in the EPA, to protecting our children, and to growing our economy.
Myth 1: The Clean Water Restoration Act (Restoration Act) goes too far - even protecting birdbaths, mud puddles and ditches.
Reality: The Restoration Act does not add any new protections to waters and wetlands beyond those protected under the Clean Water Act prior to 2001.
The Clean Water Act was never meant to protect birdbaths and mud puddles and the Restoration Act will not result in any such thing. The bill simply reaffirms the historic scope of the Clean Water Act as it has been understood by the Congress, the courts and the public since it was passed in 1972.
Learn a little more about Clean Water Action's history, our mission, and vision for the future. Find ways you can get involved and become a Clean Water Action member.
In the 1940s, plastics manufacturers started using a new, untested chemical. Known as Bisphenol-A (BPA), the chemical quickly became a popular choice for the production of hard polycarbonate plastic and epoxy liners in metal food containers. BPA is still used for the same thing today, and is found in reusable water bottles, baby bottles, CDs, DVDs, electrical equipment, sports equipment, automobiles and more. BPA is still used in the epoxy liners for metal food cans.
Six-legged frogs may seem a better fit for the Sci-Fi Channel than PBS, but these creatures are no product of the imagination. They are a very real reminder that America's waters are poisoned.