Trump's Move to Abolish Clean Water Rule Puts US Drinking Water at Risk

United States President Donald Trump has signed an Executive Order to dismantle the clean water rule, also known as the Waters of the United States.

The Verge explains that the Executive Order basically instructs the Environmental Protection Agency's leader Scott Pruitt to rewrite the environmental regulation.

How would this affect the individual states?

New Scientist asserts that dismantling the rule will leave pollution standards to individual states. In turn, this could mean a state with careless pollution regulation could disproportionately affect bordering states that share waterways. In short, the cleanliness of the water of one state will depend on how the others would manage their pollution control.

Meanwhile, the legal process to revoke the rule would be lengthy and complicated. New York Times mentioned that the process of rewriting the rule could take longer than the current president's term, citing that the clean water rule has been signed long before Barack Obama left his post. 

This is not the first time that Trump has tried to axe the initiatives of Obama. Early this year, it was reported that Trump has ordered EPA to take down all information and research about climate change on their webpage and replace it with "America First" energy plan.

READ: Did Donald Trump Order EPA To Remove Climate Change Page?

The clean water rule, issued under the Clean Water Act of 1972, was initiated by the former president Barack Obama in 2015. It expands the federal government's authority to protect and limit pollution in major bodies of water, rivers, streams and wetlands to provide clean and reliable water for the Americans.

While environmentalists rejoiced after the rule was put into place, it was also met with protests. Farmers and businessmen who capitalize in pesticides, oil, gas and golf courses claimed that the clean water rule will hamper the economic growth and intrude on the rights of the property owner.

National Public Radio notes that Trump's Organization has about a dozen golf courses across the U.S.