Senator Amy Klobuchar is from Minnesota. Minnesota has a lot of lakes and it borders the Great Lakes. Amy loves climate change legislation and has been called a “leading proponent of efforts to combat climate change” by the Washington Post, but she isn’t stepping up and leading on a law that is even more significant to our waters than the climate change legislation – the Clean Water Restoration Act.
Sen. Klobuchar sits on the US Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, the very committee that CWRA will have to pass through to become law. So why is she being so quiet? Doesn’t she realize that the Supreme Court decisions that weakened the original Clean Water Act have also jeopardized two Minnesota lakes – Bah Lakes in Douglas County and Boyer Lake in Becker County are no longer protected from pollution because they are isolated and unconnected to interstate commerce – can’t be navigated. (Fortunately, some government agents corrected the court’s move for these two bodies of water. But the point is that those court decisions are affecting bodies of water and ecosystems much bigger than your average puddle.)
Sen. Klobuchar’s colleague Rep. James Oberstar is championing the legislation and plans to introduce it in the US House ASAP. So, what is holding Amy back? Why isn’t she representing the 10,000 lakes in her state and the Great Lakes region by pushing this in her Committee? CWRA needs a champion on her Senate committee and that could be Amy if she would just step up. It isn’t just the right thing to do; it would also further her legacy as an environmental leader.
Related posts:
- Clean Water Restoration Act Makes it Through Committee with Yes Vote!
- Courting Disaster
- Calling All Senators
- Where were you?
- Senator Klobuchar Sees the Great Lakes From Her Porch