Water Center Executive Director Howard Neukrug provides insights in light of the current moves by the Trump administration and how those actions might affect the watershed.
Howard Neukrug, director of the Water Center at the University of Pennsylvania
1. What do you expect to be the concrete effects of the actions of the current administration as it defunds standing environmental practice?
I am the eternal optimist and my glass remains half full. Throughout the history of the Clean Water Act, there have been starts and stops, times with funding and times without, forward actions and pushbacks. Yet, the state of our rivers, while not yet at the goals we all seek, continues to improve over time. The current crisis, I believe, will be met by a strong reaction should things really start to degrade.
2. What is your assessment of the overall protection of the watershed in light of the rollback of environmental protections?
My biggest concern at the moment is the loss of human capital and expertise in the clean-up of our environment. It will take years, if not decades, to bring back the incredible level of professionalism and knowledge in our sector. On the other hand, there will be a new generation of talent and ideas and a renewed spark of passion for environmental innovations and improvements that will match every step backward this administration burdens us with.
3. Looking to the future, what do you see five years from now?
As mentioned above, I just hope it will only be five years to get us back on track.