Disappointing Supreme Court verdict Sackett v. EPA Will set our country back. It puts our nation’s wetlands — and the rivers, streams, lakes, and ponds that connect them — at risk of pollution and destruction, jeopardizing the clean water that millions of American families, farmers, and businesses depend on.
Since Congress overwhelmingly passed the Clean Water Act in 1972, both Republican and Democratic administrations have used it to help ensure that Americans in every state have access to clean water. It’s why America’s lakes are swimmable today, why we can fish in our streams and rivers, and why our faucets have clean water flowing from them.
Today’s decision upends the legal framework that has protected American waters for decades. It also goes against the science that substantiates the critical role of wetlands in protecting our nation’s streams, rivers, and lakes from chemicals and pollutants that harm the health and well-being of children, families, and communities.
I am committed to protecting clean air and water for future generations. My team will work with the Department of Justice and related agencies to carefully review this decision and use all the legal powers we have to protect our nation’s waters for the people and communities that depend on them. We will work with states, cities, and tribal communities to adopt and maintain important protections for their residents. Through my Investing in America agenda, we have deployed historic resources in communities across the United States to remove lead pipes, improve water quality, and rebuild the nation’s drinking water infrastructure.
We must continue to fight for clean water for all, and it will continue.
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