Clean water is essential to all life. And protecting our waterways from pollution is critical to preserving and recovering our endangered orca whales, our fisheries and the health of our communities.
Despite strong bipartisan efforts to defend protections and restore funding in the face of enormous rollbacks in the 2018 federal budget cycle, the Executive Branch has once again proposed massive cuts to critical programs that protect clean water in its 2019 Federal Budget, which is set to begin in October of this year.
This is not just a simple tightening of the belt. These proposed cuts represent a massive wish list for industrial polluters and special interests. These cuts would cripple work to provide safeguards against increased pollution, gut ongoing work to recover Puget Sound waterways and harm protections for community health. And they could be in place by the end of the year. Here is just a sample of the proposed cuts:
• A 26% cut to overall EPA Funding
• A 25% cut to Clean Water Act pollution control programs
• A 69% cut to the Environmental Justice Program
• Complete elimination of dedicated recovery funding for Puget Sound, the Great Lakes, the Gulf of Mexico, San Francisco Bay, and other regional programs.
Puget Sound residents and leaders spoke up loud and clear the last time federal budget cuts threatened to endanger our shared waterways, our clean drinking water, and the health of our communities. Now it’s time to speak up again for clean water protections that don’t sacrifice the health and well-being of members of our community.
Will you send a message to your representatives today?
The 2019 fiscal year begins on October 1, 2018. It may seem far in the future, but now is the time to tell your representatives what’s important to you. Thank them for past efforts to preserve funding and ask them to continue to stand up for the rights of everyone living in Puget Sound. Ask them to fight for a budget that protects clean water, preserves funding for environmental justice programs and doesn’t ignore the threat of climate change.
