October 22, 2008 01:16 AM UTC

Marilyn Musgrave and Bob Schaffer: Bad for Colorado's water

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• by: happyplanet

( – promoted by Colorado Pols)

–Cross post from Progress Now Action, from the New Environment Colorado reports

Coloradans deserve clean water. But Reps. Marilyn Musgrave and Bob Schaffer have consistently taken the side of polluters in opposing stronger protections for our waterways.

Full report on Rep. Musgrave

Full report on Bob Schaffer

Report follows:

Who can protect Colorado’s water?

Coloradans depend on clean water for drinking, recreation, agriculture and the preservation of healthy ecosystems for fish and wildlife. Clean water is especially important in arid western states like Colorado, where there is already too little water to go around.

Colorado needs a U.S. Senator who understands the importance of clean water to the state’s economy and our environment and who will take on the polluters. Unfortunately, during their time in Congress, Reps. Bob Schaffer & Marilyn Musgrave stood with George Bush and the polluters as they worked to dismantle America’s protections for clean water.

The Bush administration’s assault on clean water

Since passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972, America has made great progress toward cleaning up our nation’s waters. However, our rivers, lakes and streams are still in dire need of protection from industrial pollution, contaminated runoff, sewage overflows and a host of other threats.

Even today, 47 percent of America’s assessed rivers and streams and 59 percent of our assessed lakes are too polluted for fishing, swimming or other uses. Polluters dumped more than 244 million pounds of toxic chemicals into American waterways in 2006. And more than 850 billion gallons of raw or inadequately treated sewage are discharged into waterways each year.

But under George Bush, America has taken a large step backward in the protection of our precious water supplies. Time and again, the Bush administration has pushed to roll back critical protections for clean water. President Bush:

• Moved to eliminate Clean Water Act protections for 68 percent of Colorado’s streams – waterways that are critical for a variety of wildlife provide and feed the drinking water supplies of more than 3.5 million people.
• Curtailed enforcement of the Clean Water Act. For example, major Colorado facilities exceeded their permitted amounts of water pollution more than 120 times in 2005.
• Curbed the public’s right to know about toxic pollution of waterways by allowing polluters to conceal more information about their toxic discharges.
• Put the interests of Big Oil ahead of the public by exempting the construction of oil and gas drilling sites from the Clean Water Act.

Cleaning up America’s waterways

Americans deserve clean water and a healthy environment. To get there, we need to take a few common-sense steps:

• Restore Clean Water Act protections to all U.S. waterways, including source water streams and wetlands.
• Enforce the Clean Water Act to make sure polluters are following the law and reduce discharges of toxic chemicals, sewage and other pollution into waterways. Make polluters pay to clean up the damage they have caused.
• Invest in repairing outdated sewer systems and measures to reduce runoff pollution.
• Defend and expand the public’s right to know to know about the release of toxic pollution into our rivers, lakes and streams.

Reps. Musgrave and Schaffer: No friends of clean water

Time and again, Rep. Musgrave has stood with George Bush and the polluters to weaken protections for America’s waterways. Rep. Musgrave:

• Voted against critical funding for the repair and upgrading of outdated sewer systems in Colorado and elsewhere across the country at a time when 16 percent of Colorado’s assessed rivers and streams and 18 percent of our assessed lakes are too polluted for fishing, swimming or other uses.
• Voted to exempt the construction of oil and gas drilling sites from the Clean Water Act.
• Voted to give Big Oil a free pass to avoid liability for contamination from the toxic gasoline additive, MTBE, which has fouled drinking water supplies serving 22 million to 46 million people nationwide.

During his time in Congress, Rep. Schaffer:

• Voted against funding for proper enforcement of the Clean Water Act in 2001. As a result of lax enforcement, major Colorado facilities exceeded their permitted amount of pollution more than 120 times in 2005.
• Voted with George Bush against tightening the standard for arsenic in drinking water, which would have exposed as many as 34 million Americans to increased risk of cancer.
• Voted against stronger clean water rules for hardrock mining operations, which have already polluted 40 percent of all watersheds in the West.
• Voted to let polluters off the hook for paying the cost of cleaning up Superfund toxic waste sites, including the 18 sites in Colorado.

Coloradans have a choice this November. Coloradans in the 4th congressional district should elect Betsy Markey to the U.S. Congress.  Not to mention, that in Rep. Mark Udall, Coloradans have a champion who is willing to take on the polluters and fight to restore our waterways.

For more info about the candidates voting records click:

Election 2008: Candidates and Issues