Drain the Swamp

"Drain the Swamp" is a mantra generally associated with dissatisfaction with Congress and the extreme divisions in that body and has advocates on both left and right, although each with different targets for removal. 

However, in this post, "drain the swamp" refers to the literal draining of swamps. 

"The U.S. Supreme Court on May 25th eliminated federal protections for many of the nation’s wetlands, setting the stage for conversion to farm fields and urban development. .. The court ruled that federal Clean Water Act protections only apply to wetlands with a “continuous surface connection” to bodies of water already deemed waters of the United States."  This disassembles the Clean Water Act of 1970. The ruling was 5-4

[This is the second recent Supreme Court environmental ruling which attacks the EPA. Last summer, the Supreme Court issued a ruling stating that the Environmental Protection Agency cannot put state-level caps on carbon emissions, attacking the 1970 Clean Air Act.]

The EPA and the U.S. Department of the Army has defined federally protected “waters of the United States to include wetlands with a 'significant nexus' to lakes, streams and tributaries — meaning they affect their biological, physical or chemical makeup even if they don’t appear on the surface to be connected."

By overturning this definition of "wetlands", the Supreme Court has put 90 million acres, up to half the country's wetlands, in jeopardy of "draining" and development, for example, areas of the Mississippi River flyway. Weakened protections could degrade crucial wetlands along the corridor. 

It should not have to be stated, but wetlands preservation is crucial for many reasons:

• Combating climate change
• Water filtering
• Reduction of flood risk
• Fish and wildlife habitat
• Recreation opportunities
• Research and education
• Commercial fishing

<this ruling> "is divorced entirely from the science of hydrology and how wetlands work.” Janet Brimmer, senior attorney at the nonprofit environmental law firm Earthjustice, which represented 18 Native American tribes in the case.

The fight to preserve wetlands has and continues to be a long and arduous fight against aggressive developers, led by conservation organizations from the Nature Conservancy and to Ducks Unlimited. 

"One of the most important functions of our wetlands is to protect the quality of our water. Pollutants and sediment are held at bay in wetlands. Due to their location between water and land, they are very good water filters. They help filter out wastes, nutrients and sediment that seep into the flow from the land," 

Minnesota is a leader in laws protecting wetlands, but this is not typical nationally.  The value of wetlands, I thought, was well understood.  For those of us who fear for our planet, these rulings portend a state-by-state battle for environmental protection. Obviously, water and air environmental problems do not honor state boundaries. We need national protections, not a hodgepodge of state rules or lack thereof.  Who will be the Rachel Carson protecting our waters.

Write or call your congress person.

Dave

Copyright ©  2023  Dave Hoplin

Reference:  Functions and values of wetlands - EPA