Clean Water Rule Delay May Benefit Golfer-in-Chief
Jan. 31, 2018
Clean Water Rule Delay May Benefit Golfer-in-Chief
Statement of Robert Weissman, President, Public Citizen
Note: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced that it is delaying the Clean Water Rule by two years.
The Trump administration’s two-year delay of the Clean Water Rule will benefit owners of golf courses around the country, an industry that includes President Donald Trump himself. This move is a triple bogey that leaves the public in the rough.
It likely would benefit Trump, who owns or has Trump-branded golf courses in Florida (two), New York (three), New Jersey (two), Virginia (outside Washington, D.C.), California, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. As the nation’s golfer-in chief, Trump is aiding his industry and potentially himself by undercutting vital protections for Americans’ drinking water.
The Clean Water Rule would protect the cleanliness and health of our nation’s waters. It is hard to exaggerate the importance of this objective. Almost one in three Americans – roughly 117 million people – get their drinking water from streams that lacked clear protection before issuance of this rule.
Instead of catering to golf course barons, Trump should acknowledge the purpose of the Clean Water Rule and its importance to the health of millions of Americans. The rule itself is a relatively modest measure to clarify the application of the Clean Water Act. It went through a lengthy process that involved elaborate consultations with affected stakeholders.
But those are not the kinds of things you think about when you and your cronies have an interest that runs afoul of the health of millions.
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