Here’s What the Supreme Court’s Clean Water Act Ruling Means to You (June 15, 2023 )
While this ruling predates the second Trump term, it is Trump's SCOTUS appointments who are providing the majority eroding environmental protections.
June 15, 2023 — The Supreme Court’s Sackett v. EPA decision significantly narrowed the scope of the Clean Water Act. By replacing the traditional standard of protecting adjacent wetlands with a stricter requirement for a continuous surface connection, the Court has stripped federal oversight from millions of acres of ecologically vital land. This shift ignores scientific consensus regarding how wetlands filter pollutants and mitigate flooding, even when they lack a visible surface link to larger bodies of water. The author warns that this ruling leaves over half of the nation's wetlands vulnerable to dredging and development, potentially degrading drinking water and biodiversity. Ultimately, the source calls for legislative action or state-level intervention to restore the protections necessary for maintaining the nation's aquatic health.
| https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/heres-what-the-supreme-courts-clean-water-act-ruling-means-to-you/ |