WTF Is It Now?!?

Bush's sneak attack
"The Bush administration said yesterday it will consider removing Clean Water Act protections against pollution and development from up to one-fifth of the nation's streams, ponds, lakes, mudflats and wetlands. While the question is being decided, the administration said, federal regulators should act as if that policy already is in effect. Only by getting clearance from headquarters can the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the EPA try to protect the approximately 20 million acres that appear to be affected, administration officials said.

The move was denounced by some environmentalists and their allies in Congress. Sen. James Jeffords said it would "roll back 30 years of progress" under the landmark environmental law. For those waterways and wetlands that lose protection, "you can throw garbage in it or animal waste in it," said Joan Mulhern, a lawyer-lobbyist with the Earthjustice law firm. "You can kill it, ditch it or destroy it.".

In Washington state, the policy apparently would remove protection from mudflats that scientists say are critical to the biological health of Puget Sound. David Beckman, director of the California Clean Water Project said Bush's decision "is going to make it much easier for big corporations to develop wetlands and discharge pollutants into streams. It's a blatant attempt to sidestep Congress, a move under the cover of darkness to rewrite the rules incorporated by the act." - link.