October, 12 2011, 12:47pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Darcey Rakestraw
Communications Director
P: 202-683-2467
Proposed Law Guts Water Protections, Won't Make Us Safer
Statement by Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director, Food & Water Watch
WASHINGTON
"We are appalled to hear that the House Natural Resources committee has passed the National Security and Federal Lands Protection Act, which would waive federal environmental protections for Department of Homeland Security activities on federal lands in border areas. Let's hope it doesn't go any further than that.
"This is yet another ideological attempt to gut environmental regulations, spearheaded this time by Rep. Rob Bishop of Utah. The Salt Lake Tribune recently editorialized that Bishop is likely more interested in busting environmental safeguards than border safety, writing, 'It seems obvious illegal immigration is less Bishop's target than environmental protection of all public lands. Frustrated in fighting land protection in Utah, he's expanding the front, charging in where he's not wanted or needed.' Representative Raul Grijalva was quoted as also saying it was a 'Trojan-horse tactic' to attack environmental regulations.
"Not only is this legislation not about border security, but it's also a 'Big Brother' attempt to squelch democratic rulemaking that could result in diminished water quality for all Americans. Using this proposed law to supersede the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act -- among dozens of other environmental protections that would be waived -- is not what will make America safer."
Food & Water Watch works to ensure the food, water and fish we consume is safe, accessible and sustainable. So we can all enjoy and trust in what we eat and drink, we help people take charge of where their food comes from, keep clean, affordable, public tap water flowing freely to our homes, protect the environmental quality of oceans, force government to do its job protecting citizens, and educate about the importance of keeping shared resources under public control.
Food & Water Watch mobilizes regular people to build political power to move bold and uncompromised solutions to the most pressing food, water, and climate problems of our time. We work to protect people's health, communities, and democracy from the growing destructive power of the most powerful economic interests.
(202) 683-2500LATEST NEWS
UN Chief Warns of Israel's Syria Invasion and Land Seizures
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Dec 12, 2024
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said Thursday that he is "deeply concerned" by Israel's "recent and extensive violations of Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity," including a ground invasion and airstrikes carried out by the Israel Defense Forces in the war-torn Mideastern nation.
Guterres "is particularly concerned over the hundreds of Israeli airstrikes on several locations in Syria" and has stressed the "urgent need to de-escalate violence on all fronts throughout the country," said U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.
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Addressing the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and conversations it has sparked about the country's for-profit system, longtime Medicare for All advocate Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday condemned the murder and stressed that getting to universal coverage will require a movement challenging corporate money in politics.
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In addition to highlighting Sanders' interview on social media, Congressman Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) pointed out to Business Insider on Wednesday that "you've got thousands of people that are sharing their stories of frustration" in the wake of Thompson's death.
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Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)—a co-sponsor of Sanders' Medicare for All Act—similarly toldHuffPost in a Tuesday interview, "The visceral response from people across this country who feel cheated, ripped off, and threatened by the vile practices of their insurance companies should be a warning to everyone in the healthcare system."
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Reporters Without Borders' (RSF) 2024 roundup, which was published Thursday, found that at least 54 journalists were killed on the job or in connection with their work this year, and 18 of them were killed by Israeli armed forces (16 in Palestine, and two in Lebanon).
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Multiple journalists were also killed in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Mexico, Sudan, Myanmar, Colombia, and Ukraine, according to the report, and hundreds more were detained and are now behind bars in countries including Israel, China, and Russia.
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