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| Environment Illinois Calls for Clean Water |
(IRN)-An environmental group is calling on an Illinois senator to support the restoration of the Clean Water Act.
A report released by Environment Illinois analyzes campaign contributions and lobbying expenditures from agribusiness interests and describes how companies are using their political influence to oppose clean water protections. The report points to Decatur-based Archer Daniels Midland and claims the company has driven policy changes to make corn the dominant crop in the Midwest, increasing the use of fertilizer and pesticides, which wash into creeks and rivers. The report claims ADM spent $1.3 million on congressional candidates in the last decade and $6.9 million on lobbying over the past six years.
On a bigger scale, Environment Illinois says lobbyists from Monsanto, Cargill, Land O' Lakes and Perdue blocked a 2010 effort to restore Clean Water Act protections. Without those protections, Environment Illinois says half of Illinois' streams and 150,000 acres of wetlands are at risk from agribusiness and other polluters.
"We're asking for Senaotr [Mark] Kirk specifically, to help defend the EPA's actions in protecting clean water and for holding polluters accountable and making them pay for the pollution that they are creating in Illinois," said Lauren Monahan, Environment Illinois field organizer. Monahan says Kirk has been friendly towards environmental protections.
In Illinois, agricultural interests have donated more than $6 million to state-level political campaigns since 2000.
(Source: Illinois Radio Network) |
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| 02 24 11 by Newsroom |
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