On Thursday, Jan. 3, farmers, real estate developers, mining companies and other industries rejoiced at the Trumpian rollback of Obama-era regulations on wetlands, tributaries and other waterways. President Trump signed an executive order creating the new “Navigable Waters Rule,” which punted decades of environmental protections out the window.
Trump essentially let go of all official federal rules obligating companies to seek permits to discharge waste in waterways or build on protected wetlands. When faced with backlash about the future health of America’s water, Trump justified his actions by claiming the old regulations had been examples of federal government overreach onto farm land. Trump aligned with Supreme Court Justice Scalia’s opinion in the case of Rapanos v. United States, which dictated that the federal government must protect minimal amounts of water and wetland.
Obama’s now dead definition of Waters of the United States (WOTUS), installed in 2015 and repealed in 2019, expanded the Clean Water Act (CWA), extending federal protections to important interstate waters of the United States. Pre-2019, farmers and companies would have had to seek a permit to dispose of industrial or agricultural waste in federally protected waters or wetlands.
The 2015 legislation was well intended, and from my perspective, it was just. However, the frustration farmers felt was clear. Democrats’ imposition of rules on farmers was used by Republicans as a powerful political tool to increase division. In the eyes of many farmers, Obama was not legislating for their wellbeing and future, but instead for those living in metropolitan areas. Trump’s repeal of the rule was no surprise, as it was one of his first promises to Middle America in his campaign. However, the legal entanglements to come are immense, and environmental groups are expected to bring out all they can against the executive order. Industries would have to consider some dangerous risks if they want to violate previous regulations.
I have had a lot of experience learning about rural ideals and morals. As a kid, I spent my summers in my dad’s hometown of Ada, Oklahoma. My dad grew up on a large cattle ranch, and I got caught small snippets of the life he led before he entered the corporate world. My family had ranched until natural gas booms transformed the economy of Southeastern Oklahoma in the ‘90s and the early 2000s. While I am always a proponent for green energy, there are not a lot of green options for people that live in Oklahoma. I believe that rural America needs sweeping federal safety nets, or, more preferable to Oklahomans, a massive private sector incentive if we are to compensate for the difficulties of shifting our economy to green energy and agriculture. The permit-based programs installed under the Obama administration were not the most efficient, but they were important. Repealing old regulations is just an obvious short-term political boost.
The CWA protected crucial wetlands and streams from polluters. Aquatic infrastructure in the Midwest is crumbling. According to extensive reporting published by the Associated Press in November 2019, upward of 1,600 Midwestern dams have been rendered dysfunctional, and state governments are too money-stricken to fix them. This means that they are not preventing runoff of harmful byproducts and are instead letting a freefall of toxins into the local environments. Trump gave the go-ahead for companies to pollute without regulation, leaving respective populations extremely vulnerable.
I urge my fellow liberals to think about the often-forgotten rural populations in places like my second home of Oklahoma. Conversely, after resettling in Pennsylvania, my dad reentered his passion for agriculture by opening up a winery in Chester County, a key battleground for the 2020 election. Concerns about agriculture can even convert voters there, where agriculture is a keystone of the local charm. The challenge for liberal politicians is the forked path of immediate and large-scale revolution or slow and gradual adjustment, and with whichever path they choose, it must include America’s heartland of farmers.
Daniel Cody is a freshman journalism major who writes on topical politics and the discourse that follows. Find him on Twitter @danielhcody.
