Here's the Secret - Drinking Water Matters

By Lynn Thorp, National Campaigns Director

Yesterday I wrote about the “Trickle Down Problem,” which allows pollution caused by our industrial and other activities to perpetuate until it trickles down to our drinking water sources.  We’re left to solve the problem with treatment and higher costs to consumers.

What would it look like to act as if drinking water matters? As noted in Part 1, we would not exempt hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas (or other activities) from the Safe Drinking Water Act.  We’d also apply a great deal more foresight to our chemical policies.

It’s possible to envision an honest conversation, across our society, which actually considers the safety of our drinking water, our public health, resource depletion, climate change and the true costs of pollution.   It takes bravery and political will.  Our friends at the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production convened one such discussion with the Toward Tomorrow project.

A big re-think is not impossible.  But there are simple things we can do right now that illustrate what it might look like to put drinking water first:

CLOSE CLEAN WATER ACT GAPS: We’ve been engaged for over a decade in a ridiculous debate about which water the Clean Water Act is meant to protect.  It’s time to put this to rest and send the special interests home.  The streams and wetlands at stake are a vital part of our water infrastructure. They filter pollution and prevent flooding, and feed the drinking water for over 117 million of us.  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers have proposed a solution; we expect it to be finalized soon and are encouraging the Administration to continue to move this forward so that we may focus on ever more pressing water issues.

STOP ARGUING OVER CLIMATE CHANGE:  We simply do not have time to politicize this issue.  Climate change is water change.  We will feel the impacts of global warming in our water resources first; in fact we already are. Among the many challenges will be how to address the water quantity and quality changes that are to come.  Acting like drinking water matters means doing everything we can to curb greenhouse gas emissions and making sure our water programs are geared toward not only reducing carbon emissions but helping us adapt to the changes that are already here or on their way.

EPA’s draft National Water Program: Response to Climate Change is a good first step on the latter.  Putting to rest the notion that we all get to decide which science to believe and adopting smart carbon and clean energy policies is the only solution to the former.  Controlling greenhouse gas pollution from new power plants is just one step but it deserves our support.

Drinking water matters because public health matters.  Our activities ultimately affect our health and the well-being of our communities. Acting as if drinking water matters can have many long-reaching results and remind us how precious this resource is.  So cozy up to a tall glass of tap water, don’t forget to laugh about that person paying 400 times more for bottled water and take some action.

Related posts

1. Drinking Water Matters – Solving the Trickle Down Problem
2. A Step in the Right Direction on Hydraulic Fracturing and Drinking Water
3. What Part of “All” Don’t They Understand?

Help Us Protect Drinking Water

By Lynn Thorp, National Campaigns Director

It’s Drinking Water Week – a good time to think about the big picture when it comes to drinking water challenges.  One part of the picture that can’t get enough attention is what I call the “Trickle Down” problem.

If you’re like most people in the United States, you think drinking water is pretty important.  Maybe you know something about your Public Water System or about the chemical and engineering miracle that is performed every minute by modern drinking water treatment plants. You might even know there is a law called the Safe Drinking Water Act and think that it’s practical to protect our drinking water at all costs.

And you know what, you’re right. But, unfortunately, drinking water concerns don’t drive our policy decisions.  In fact, sometimes, it seems like we don’t think about protecting our drinking water at all. We let industrial and other activities proceed without protections for our drinking water sources. The pollution problems “trickle down” into our drinking water sources where Public Water Systems clean up the mess and consumers foot the bill.

Take hydraulic fracturing (fracking) for oil and gas, for example. It’s all over the news – and not for good reasons. Not only did we rush headlong into this new fossil fuel extraction process without knowing all the details, leaving communities and regulators overwhelmed, but we let Congress exempt it almost entirely  from the Safe Drinking Act in 2005.  You read the right – an industry prone to spills and injecting chemical cocktails into the ground and we exempt it from the Safe Drinking Water Act. That’s “trickle down” in action.

Fracking must be an exemption, right? Wrong.

Yesterday I read about a new study suggesting that bisphenol A (BPA) exposure in the womb to the notorious plastic additive may contribute to breast cancer. If we truly put drinking water first, our woefully out-of-date chemicals management law would curb potentially bad actors long before we have to start wondering if they are a threat to drinking water.

Not every drinking water challenge will be solved by changing our activities on the “front end,” but enough examples come to mind to make this a serious proposition.  Now that we know the contribution that agricultural activity makes to our nutrient pollution problems; should we have exempted them from the Clean Water Act?  Natural gas isn’t the only fossil fuel whose extraction threatens water; look no further than mountaintop removal coal mining, whose very name should tell you that’s not a great idea.  Blowing off the tops of mountains pollutes and literally destroys streams that flow into drinking water sources, yet the U.S. House of Representatives voted numerous times in 2011 to block Clean Water Act programs which touch this process. 

So for drinking water week, pull up a glass of tap water and laugh at that person spending 400 times as much for bottled water. Then think about what’s so bad about acting like drinking water matters.

Related posts

1. A Step in the Right Direction on Hydraulic Fracturing and Drinking Water

Take Action for Safe Chemicals Today!

By Cindy Luppi, New England Director

May is here and for many, the top thing on our minds is spring and whether the Celtics can continue their tear in playoffs (Rondo!) or if the Sox will ever turn it around in the Valentine years (and, if you’re not from New England, feel free to insert your own sports teams/metaphors here).

For me, Spring always reminds me of my grandmother, Aubine. She was born in early April, over 100 years ago in a small town in northern Maine.

She taught my sisters and me many things over the years, but the single over-riding lesson was crystal clear: you take on the hard jobs, and you don’t shy away from the things that most need doing. That’s how she lived her life, from start to finish—including working as a young girl with her family to carve a fishing camp out of the Maine wilderness. That lesson reinforces my commitment to keep on pressing for the updates to our laws that will protect us all from exposure to toxic chemicals. This campaign has been tough at times.

It has effectively united a diverse cross section of the U.S. public from health groups to forward-thinking businesses to environmental justice advocates, all pressing for a bill introduced by Senator Frank Lautenberg, the Safe Chemicals Act. Whenever we collectively take a step forward, though, it sometimes seems like the chemical industry is relentless in battling back. We help release new peer-reviewed studies that reveal solid evidence that toxic chemicals are damaging our health; the chemical industry lobbyists claim the research is unpersuasive. We deliver over 100,000 petition signatures from concerned families across the country urging reforms; partisan legislators turn a blind eye because they don’t want to give the Environmental Protection Agency the tools they need to assess the safety of chemicals.

Some days it can seem like it’s simply taking too long or that our efforts aren’t making enough headway. On those days, when it would be easier to throw in the towel out of sheer frustration, my grandmother’s lessons eventually kick in and I can reconnect with my core motivation to stand up for disease prevention and for the smarter laws that will protect our health.

Cindy Luppi

There’s one simply thing we can do today – join more than 76,000 Americans who have already signed the petition for safer chemicals.  It’s time for us to take Aubine’s lesson to heart – don’t shy away.  And, if I might add something, get loud about it.  Help us make as much noise as possible for safe chemicals. Sign the petition today and tell our elected officials that it’s time for us to know what chemicals are in our lives!

By the way, do you wonder how my grandmother’s story played out? She and her family not only established their fishing camp but it was so successful that she and her siblings were sent to college on the proceeds–something very rare in rural Maine in the early 1920′s. I have no doubt that our collective efforts to pass the Safe Chemicals Act nationally will ultimately be just as successful.

Related posts

1. Superhero Moms and Safer Chemicals
2. Get on the Phone: National Call-In day for Safer Chemicals!

Let's keep diesel out of fracking!

By Lynn Thorp, National Campaigns Director

As experts on the Safe Drinking Water Act, we weren’t at all thrilled when Congress exempted hydraulic fracturing from the law back in 2005.  EPA’s draft policy around fracking operations that use diesel addresses the only “exemption in that exemption” and because of that is very important.  We’ve seen since then that drinking water impacts are one of the biggest areas of concern with this type of oil and gas drilling and the exemption needs to be reversed.

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct) exempts hydraulic fracturing from the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) “… except when diesel fuel is used”. So there’s only one way in which the SDWA can come into play in “fracking” operations and that’s where diesel is used.  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) deserves support for its draft guidance for how to protect underground sources of drinking water when diesel is injected during fracturing.

Even though the industry told Congress that it barely used diesel anymore, a 2011 Congressional investigation found that drilling service companies injected over 30 million gallons of diesel underground during hydraulic fracturing between 2005 and 2009.

I really like one of the findings of the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board’s Shale Gas Production Subcommittee. This panel had a pretty diverse membership, including some with an interest in the growth and success of the natural gas industry. Their 90 Day Report said:

Reduction in the use of diesel fuel: The Subcommittee believes there is no technical or economic reason to use diesel in shale gas production and recommends reducing the use of diesel engines for surface power in favor of natural gas engines or electricity where available.

EPA’s draft guidance instructs permitters in the states on how to handle permits for fracking wells where diesel is used.  EPA needs to hear from the public on this proposal during the 60 day comment period. Tell the EPA we want the strongest protections possible to keep benzene and other toxic chemicals in diesel out of drinking water.

Related posts

1. Fracking New Jersey
2. Keep Moratorium on Delaware River Drilling in Place

There are lots of great ways to celebrate Mother’s Day.

While there is no substitute for an in-person visit or celebratory phone call (or video chat, if you’re so inclined), there is also a rich tradition involving gifts of cards, pictures flowers, edible goodies and more.

If you wanted to add or substitute something on this list, you might consider giving a gift to Clean Water Action  or Clean Water Fund in honor or memory of your mother, grandmother and/or other special women in your life. In our household, we often give a gift of blankets (for disaster relief) in the form of donations to Church World Service. There are many worthy causes – we’d still put Clean Water at or near the top – and this form of Mother’s Day gift is always appreciated.

One other advantage of gifts-in-honor or in-memory is that they do not actually involve buying more “stuff.” Thus they have the added benefit of also honoring Mother Earth (positive benefit, negligible environmental harm).

Still want to go the traditional route? If you’re not able to buy locally or prefer to buy online, we have these planet-friendly recommendations, which offer the added advantage of generating donations for Clean Water Action at no added cost to you. The first five of these have been put together for Clean Water Action by our partners at We-Care.com.

1-800-Flowers
The Planet Friendly collection from 1-800-Flowers is grown in a socially and environmentally responsible manner. Each beautiful arrangement is sure to brighten Mom’s day. Sustainable arrangements from 1-800-Flowers. (8% Donation)
http://cleanwateraction.we-care.com/EOffer/c32276

RitzPix.com
Take a picture of your mother and you, or the family, or a great photo that Mom took and print it into a work of art at RitzPix.com. 50% OFF a canvas wrapped photo at RitzPix.com with coupon code CANVAS50 (10% Donation)
http://cleanwateraction.we-care.com/EOffer/c31941

Crane & Co
Crane & Co greeting cards are made with 100% recovered cotton fibers, and use fewer chemicals and produce far less waste than paper made from trees. A beautiful card from Crane & Co may be the simplest way to show Mom your love. Mother’s Day Cards from Crane & Co earn (5% Donation)
http:/cleanwateraction.we-care.com/EOffer/c32273

Harry & David
Treat Mom to some delicious organic treats; Harry & David has the most elegant organic baskets to show your Mother you care. Deluxe Organic Fruit Gift Basket from Harry & David (6% Donation)
http://cleanwateraction.we-care.com/EOffer/c32275

Bambeco –This sustainable products company is continuing its special offer for Clean Water Action supporters through the end of May. Many great ideas on this site if you’re stuck on what to get for Mother’s Day or any other occasion. 15% off at checkout with code CLEANWATER40
http://cleanwateraction.we-care.com/EOffer/c28187

Do you like the idea of having your online purchases generate donations for Clean Water Action automatically, at no extra cost to you? Check out the Clean Water Action online shopping App from We-Care.com. Once installed it works automatically with your web browser to make that happen, with more than 2000 participating online merchants.

There’s also a cool new search tool you can add to your web browser that generates donations every time you do a web search. The donations from the search tool and the shopping App may be small (we call them micro-donations), but with more than 300,000 Clean Water Action supporters using them (and growing), they really add up. We receive tens of thousands of donations this way every month. Join with us by installing the Clean Water Action App today.

One more Mother’s Day suggestion. The special Earth Month offer from Aromafloria (“Wellness in Bloom”) which offers sustainably produced personal care products, continues until May 9. That’s 15% off at checkout when you use the code CLEANWATER40, and 15% of all online sales donated to Clean Water Fund.

Love Your Mother. This Mother’s Day, you don’t need to buy anything in order to communicate your love and gratitude. If you do decide to make a donation or purchase a gift, we hope you will keep Clean Water Action, Clean Water Fund and our Water Planet in mind when you do so.

Happy Mother’s Day from all of us at Clean Water Action & Clean Water Fund!

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Welcome, Flat Earth Society

By Gary Wockner, Colorado Program Director

Groups call for energy reality check, end of excessive taxpayer handouts to Big Oil

Several Colorado groups took members of Congress to task today over their failed energy policies, political rhetoric, and ties to industry.

Clean Water Action, Colorado Fair Share Alliance, the Checks and Balances Project and local activists gathered on the steps of the state capitol early this morning in anticipation of a U.S. House Energy and Minerals Subcommittee field hearing on federal oversight of oil and gas fracking operations. Rep. Doug Lamborn chairs the committee, and Rep. Mike Coffman is also a member.  

The groups greeted Lamborn and the hearing with a banner that said, “Welcome, Flat Earth Society” – a reference to a recent National Press Club speech by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar where he argued Republicans were out of touch on energy policy and the realities on the ground.

The hearing is nothing but a Big Oil funded charade put on by Lamborn and Coffman, charter members of the Flat Earth Society. Coloradans need to grab their air, water, public lands, and democracy because Big Oil wants to buy them all.

The groups also called the hearing a waste of taxpayer dollars, especially given the fact that the Interior Department’s new draft fracking rules were actually met with praise by some in industry this week.

“The ‘Flat Earth Society’ members of Congress have fallen flat on doing what’s right – providing relief on gas prices and promoting real energy independence,” said Matt Garrington, co-director of the Checks and Balances Project. “Coffman and Lamborn continue to put Big Oil profits first.”

The groups noted that the oil and gas industry receives $9.4 billion annually in special tax breaks, funds that would be better spent investing in long term solutions such high tech vehicles, the next generation of renewable fuels, and transportation improvements.

Joining the event was David Bouchey of Aurora, who criticized his Representative, Mike Coffman, for supporting Big Oil and moneyed interests over Coloradans.

“As a constituent, I’m not happy that Mike Coffman has supported letting my unemployment benefits expire while supporting tax breaks for the 1% oil companies,” said Bouchey.

One reason for why Republicans Coffman and Lamborn may be abusing their authority to run special interest legislation for Big Oil and hold messaging hearings could be the disparity in campaign contributions Republicans receive from industry.

According the Center for Responsive Politics, the oil and gas industry gave nearly 88% of their campaign contributions to Republicans. So far this cycle, Rep. Coffman has received $55,000 from the oil and gas industry, and Rep. Doug Lamborn has received $29,250.

“Today’s hearing is just another way Rep. Coffman and Lamborn are paying back their oil and gas campaign contributors,” said Wockner. “We should be ending taxpayer handouts to Big Oil and reinvesting in American energy solutions that will provide relief and real energy security.”

FACTS ABOUT COLORADO ENERGY DEVELOPMENT

• Colorado oil production was at an all-time high in 2011 at 33,403 thousand barrels.

• Natural gas production was at an all-time high in 2010 at  1,589,664 MMcf (latest data available).

• As of May 2012, of the 4.2 million acres leased for oil and gas drilling on federal lands in Colorado only 25% or 1.06 million acres are currently in production. That means the oil and gas industry has more than 3.1 million acres of land leased available right now for energy production.

• As of September 30, 2011, the oil and gas industry had 620 unused drilling permits for Colorado’s federal lands.

• Drilling in Colorado (federal, state, and private lands) was up 24% in 2011:
  • Average number of annual drill rigs under the Bush administration: 67
  • Average number of annual drill rigs under the Obama administration: 60

Related posts

1. Colorado’s “Big Oil” Congressmen Make Us Pay Twice for Gasoline
2. Congress Goes After the Environment
3. How Congress Plans to Make the Cuyahoga Burn Again

Who are they protecting?

By Jennifer Peters, National Water Coordinator

On Wednesday the House Appropriations Committee passed an amendment to a spending bill that would block the Administration from finishing new Clean Water Act polices  to protect streams, lakes, wetlands and other water resources.  These new Clean Water Act policies are needed to replace policies enacted by the Bush administration that left many of our nation’s streams and wetlands more vulnerable to pollution. This latest assault on the Clean Water Act was led by Representative Denny Rehberg of Montana (R- At-Large).

As we mark the 40^th Anniversary of the Clean Water Act, it is disheartening to witness the endless barrage by some in Congress against commonsense polices to protect communities from pollution. Thanks to the Clean Water Act our most important resource is better protected than it was forty years ago.  In fact, just this week researchers at the University of Southern California released a study that documents the Clean Water Act’s success at reducing heavy metal pollution in coastal waters in Southern California.

We cannot let Congress put our water at risk by turning back the clock on important clean water protections.  Tell President Obama that you support new commonsense clean water policies to protect the drinking water sources for over 117 million Americans.

Related posts

1. Who Wants Dirty Air or Nasty Water?
2. The Latest Dirty Water Bill: a Temper Tantrum in Writing
3. The Senate Against Clean Water

What are you doing to celebrate Earth Month?

By Jonathan A. Scott, Communications Director

Everyone wants to be able to “do something” for Earth Day. For anyone who’s too young (or too old) to remember, this is the annual celebration whose first incarnation, April 22, 1970 helped to galvanize and symbolize the upwelling of popular and political support which made much environmental progress possible over the past four decades.

Before that first Earth Day, “The environmental issue simply was not to be found on the nation’s political agenda. The people were concerned, but the politicians were not,” according to then-U.S. Senator from Wisconsin and environmental hero Gaylord Nelson, widely recognized as “Earth Day Founder.”

Those words do have kind of a déjà vu ring to them today, “The people were concerned, but the politicians were not.”

Earth Day celebrations today include rallies, beach and park clean-ups, concerts and more. But many people these days celebrate Earth Day, indoors, watching TV and feeling guilty about not “doing something.” The modern antidote to “feeling guilty” – does the TV watching have anything to do with this? – is to go out and buy something. Since this is Earth Day, that translates into buying “green.”

If you’re going to buy stuff, whether guilt-driven or otherwise, “green” is presumably better than not, depending on the definition. Here is one alternative, which is interestingly enough offered by a company that is in the business of selling stuff. Check out Patagonia’s Common Threads Initiative and pledge to learn more.

Still determined to buy? There’s no question that buying local – supporting your local merchants and economy – can often be greener than online and can offer other benefits as well. Buying local and organic (when it comes to food or clothing) and also fair trade certified (food, clothing and other goods) can be even better.

A number of businesses offer Earth Day or Earth Month promotions. Here are a few that Clean Water supporters should be aware of, whether locally or online:

Aveda Earth Month – Clean Water Fund is proud to be a local partner for Aveda’s Earth Month 2012 activities, taking place at local salons in California, Pennsylvania and New England. Other great environmental causes (in other states and regions across the U.S. and Canada) also benefit from salon purchases and fun, innovative fundraising events organized by Aveda volunteers.

Bambeco – This online seller of eco-friendly goods who is part of the nationwide network of retailers who make donations to Clean Water Action when purchases are made using the special App for your computer’s web browser from our partners at We-care.com. Through May, Bambeco is also offering our supporters a 15% discount in addition to its donations; just use the code, CLEANWATER40, at checkout.

Aromafloria – “Our goal is to help our customers obtain balance of the body, mind and spirit, while preserving the Earth and her resources.” – Aromafloria founder Sharon Christie.

Her company won special recognition from the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics for its industry leadership. Through May 9, 15% of Aromafloria’s online sales benefit Clean Water Fund, and supporters using the CLEANWATER40 code at checkout receive 15% of their order.

And now for something completely different… but still totally relevant for Earth Month 2012:

CharitySub – Clean Water Fund is a featured cause on CharitySub through the month of April.

Watch our video, learn more about CharitySub’s innovative model, and support us.

One more way you can support Clean Water this April or anytime, year ‘round… You can make Earth Day everyday with a monthly donation to either organization (or to both), Clean Water Action or Clean Water Fund.

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We must Re-elect Barack Obama in 2012

In my 20 years of working with Clean Water Action, I have never seen a Presidential race in which the choice was so stark. That’s why earlier this week, Clean Water Action joined with Sierra Club, the League of Conservation Voters and Environment America to endorse President Obama for reelection in 2012. He has an outstanding record on environmental issues, and despite a hostile Congress, has taken incredibly important actions to address climate change, air pollution and water pollution and other health and environmental challenges.

For months the Republican challengers for President have been playing politics with our environmental protections. Mr. Romney tried to outdo his opponents in denouncing environmental safeguards, calling protections for our water and our health “job killers.”  Fortunately, most Americans understand that strong environmental protections are essential ingredients for both healthy communities and a healthy economy. 

Mr. Romney threatens, if elected, to roll back decades of progress in protecting our water, our air and our health. He wants to repeal the Obama Administration initiatives dealing with climate change, and would cut regulation on gas and oil drilling.  His positions on the environment are more extreme than any serious Republican contender for President in recent memory.

On the other hand, despite the most anti-environment Congress in history, President Obama has taken gigantic steps to protect our water, our communities, and our health.

• To better protect drinking water and vital water resources, the Administration will be publishing the Guidance that clarifies Clean Water Act protection for streams and wetlands, which will, we expect, be followed by a formal rulemaking.  The Administration also issued a strong Executive Order on the Chesapeake Bay and took action to clean up and preserve other important water bodies.
• On air pollution and climate change, the EPA has issued long overdue programs to reduce harmful air pollution from industrial boilers, cement kilns and coal fired power plants.  Just recently, the EPA issued a historic draft rule requiring new power plants for the first time to control their greenhouse gas emissions.
• On hydraulic fracturing for gas and oil, the EPA just issued a new rule limiting air pollution from oil and gas operations, and is preparing new guidance on the use of diesel fuel in fracking.  Meanwhile, the Department of the Interior is working on new rules that would set new standards for fracking on federal lands, including requirements to disclose the chemicals that are being used.

And this is just a partial list.

We have a choice in 2012. We can either continue moving forward to build a future of clean water, healthy air and clean jobs, or we can go back forty years to a time when rivers caught on fire and the air in many cities was unhealthy to breathe.  We can either reduce the emissions that are causing climate change, creating new jobs and growing our economy, or we can spend billions dealing with the damage that climate change will cause.

The choice couldn’t be clearer.  We must re-elect Barack Obama President this fall.

Related posts

1. Congress Goes After the Environment

This post first appeared at Huffington Post

At New Belgium Brewing, we not only make Fat Tire Amber Ale and about 15 other beers at one time, we also cultivate our Alternatively Empowered culture. New Belgium Brewing takes pride in being a responsible corporate role model with progressive programs such as employee ownership, open book management, and a commitment to environmental stewardship. We also strive to leverage the strength of our brand when necessary to support public policy that reflects our environmental and social ethos.

Right now, we need to stand up for the Clean Water Act.

2012 is the 40th anniversary for the Clean Water Act, one of America’s bedrock environmental laws that have protected Americans as well as America’s waters from toxic pollution. Passed in 1972 with wide bipartisan support in Congress, the Clean Water Act has transformed our waterways across the United States, resulting in cleaner and healthier water, better fishing and swimming, healthier ecosystems, and improvements to cities’ drinking water supplies.

Unfortunately, a previous presidential administration weakened Clean Water Act programs so that we cannot assume that all our water is protected. Here in Colorado, for example, the Cache la Poudre River and the Colorado River — which are the source waters for New Belgium’s beer — are protected by the Clean Water Act, but all of the seasonal and intermittent streams in the mountainsthat feed into the Poudre and the Colorado are vulnerable to these “No Protection” policies.

That’s why we need to speak out now to restore the protections Congress intended when it passed the Clean Water Act in 1972.

In the coming weeks, President Obama and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are expected to finalize “guidance” that starts to close these loopholes so that Colorado’s seasonal mountain streams are protected. New Belgium Brewing supports this commonsense policy. We’d like to see protections restored to all rivers, lakes, and wetlands – large and small – that safeguard our drinking water and the public’s health.

Last summer, the EPA received over 230,000 public comments in support of moving this policy forward. In addition, more than 500 local elected officials, farmers and recreational businesses across the United States (including dozens in Colorado) have lent their support to the guidelines. We applaud the Obama Administration’s efforts to protect our waterways and address this enormous public outpouring of support for the Clean Water Act. It is clear to us that the American public expects and wants clean water because it is essential for a healthy environment and a healthy community.

Clarifying the confusion over the Clean Water Act will also ensure that businesses have a stable regulatory environment in which to work. As a brewer of craft beer, we rely on smart regulations to keep water clean so that we can make sound business decisions about the water that comes into our brewery, as well as the water that leaves it through local waste-water facilities. We need to know that regulations will protect our bottom line from upstream pollution, and we need to make sure we are also protecting downstream water users.

Our brewery has been growing at a brisk pace — we are lucky to be able to make great beer as well as support our community by creating good jobs in a spirited environment dedicated to our collective success. We’ve had 20 great years here at New Belgium Brewing, which are in part due to the 40 years the Clean Water Act has worked to keep Colorado’s water safe, clean and healthy.

On behalf of the employee owners at New Belgium Brewing and our Alternatively Empowered culture, we offer a toast to 40 great years of the Clean Water Act and to the EPA and Obama Administration’s leadership to make sure our water — and our beer — continues to be of the highest quality.

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