Weekly News Roundup – June 1, 2012

Want to know what National Wildlife Federation was up to this week? Here is a recap of the week’s NWF news:

Let’s Go Camping!

June 1 – School is out, and many kids are already spending hours inside glued to their electronic devices. To foster a healthy outdoor lifestyle it’s time for parents to boot them outside so they can benefit from some fresh air surrounded by a world of green. By Presidential proclamation, June is Great Outdoors Month so there is no better time to teach kids why it’s called the Great Outdoors.

A perfect place to start is by having your family participate in the 8th annual Great American Backyard Campout on June 23. National Wildlife Federation’s fundraising event encourages parents and kids alike to trade screen time for green time by spending a night under the stars.

House of Representatives Rejects Clean Water Protections

June 1 – The U.S. House of Representatives today struck a blow against Clean Water Act protections for streams that supply drinking water to 117 million Americans and wetlands that provide critical flood protection and fish and wildlife habitat. The full House rejected an amendment to allow the Army Corps of Engineers to proceed with Clean Water Act guidance and a future rulemaking.

The FY 2013 Energy and Water Appropriations bill (HR 5325), which the House debated today, includes a provision barring the Corps of Engineers from taking any steps – next year or in any future year – to revise the agency’s guidance on waters protected by the Clean Water Act. Representatives Jim Moran (VA) and John Dingell (MI) offered an amendment to strike this damaging provision, which would allow the Corps to finalize and implement new, science-based clean water guidance.  Members of Congress who opposed this amendment voted to maintain the status quo of wetlands loss, stream pollution, and regulatory confusion.

New Poll Shows Protecting America’s Waterways is Good Policy and Good Politics

May 29 – A new poll commissioned by the nation’s leading environmentalists and sportsmen organizations in key Great Lakes and Rocky Mountain states shows that the public overwhelmingly supports an Obama administration proposal to restore protections for America’s rivers, lakes, streams, and wetlands.

The poll confirms that – across party lines and in all age groups – voters demand clean water for safe drinking water and oppose the pollution of places where their families fish and swim. This poll comes at a time when the Obama administration is set to finalize its Clean Water Act guidance, yet the House majority is preparing to ignore the will of the public and instead continue dirty water politics.

Three-quarters (75%) of the likely voters surveyed in Ohio and nearly seven in ten (67%) Colorado respondents support the President’s proposal to restore clean water safeguards, with support strong across political affiliations.

And here are highlights from NWF in the News:

For more, visit www.nwf.org/News