DES MOINES, IOWA (October 31, 2024) — Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird is leading 24 other states in urging the US Supreme Court to protect states’ powers to regulate and ensure access to clean water.
At the Port of Tacoma, “woke” green activists sued to take regulatory power away from the states and give it to themselves. The same tactic could be used to sue farmers and cities — giving green activists the ability to impose burdensome mandates. One risk is that the activists may use these suits to weaponize Biden and Harris’s radical Waters of the United States (“WOTUS”) rule to try and enforce radical, point-source-related regulations. Tax-payers will also be on the hook to pay for defending government in these politically-charged lawsuits. The states are calling on the US Supreme Court to hear the case and restore regulatory power to the States so that farmers and cities are not forced to choose between “woke,” costly mandates or defending from aggressive lawsuits.
“State and federal governments are already enforcing laws to keep people healthy and waters clean,” said AG Bird. “We must not allow unelected, green activists to weaponize lawsuits to force ‘woke’ mandates, hurt farmers, or threaten cities that are working hard to keep drinking water clean.”
In February 2023, AG Bird sued to block the Biden-Harris administration’s radical WOTUS mandate that drastically expands the power of the federal government, and won. The States’ brief here challenges potential future weaponization of WOTUS.
The States urge the Supreme Court to reverse the lower court’s ruling and uphold the Clean Water Act, which guarantees that states have the power to ensure clean water for their citizens.
Iowa led the amicus brief and was joined by Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
Read the full amicus brief here.
