Trump Tramples States’ Ability to Protect Their Water

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump announced today that his administration would short-circuit the ability of states to weigh the risks—and curb the impacts—of projects like pipelines and dams to the lakes, rivers, streams and wetlands within their borders. He is also attempting to curtail environmental reviews of dirty-energy pipelines that cross international borders.

The following is a comment from Jon Devine, director for federal water policy at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC):

“This is another gift to polluters at the expense of our health and welfare. Developers of pipelines or dams don’t want state leaders or local residents to scrutinize or restrict harmful projects—but that just demonstrates why states’ authority to do so is so important.”

(For more on Section 401 of the Clean Water Act and the hypocrisy of the Trump administration, please see this memorandum.)

The following is a comment from Joshua Axelrod, a lawyer in the international program at NRDC:

"President Trump is curtailing the public's voice in an attempt to force dirty energy projects on communities across America. Pipelines like Keystone XL pose dangers to our water, our farms and our climate, and those environmental risks cannot be ignored. We will continue to fight projects that tie us to dirty fossil fuels and will work to expand access to homegrown clean-energy solutions."

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The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world's natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Bozeman, MT, and Beijing. Visit us at www.nrdc.org and follow us on Twitter @NRDC.​