Animal Feces--or Worse--in Your Water?

The New York Times has an interesting article on violations of the Clean Water laws, of the EPA's lax oversight during the Bush administration, and of the consequences of that laxness: "Clean Water Laws Are Neglected, at a Cost in Suffering." In interviewing "more than 250 state and federal regulators, water-system managers, environmental advocates and scientists," New York Times journalists have discovered that "an estimated one in 10 Americans have been exposed to drinking water that contains dangerous chemicals or fails to meet a federal health benchmark in other ways." The article describes the consequences of water pollution on the health of one family in West Virginia who live just seventeen miles from the state capital and on the career of one lawyer who joined West Virginia's environmental protection agency, where, he discovered, "everyone was terrified of doing their job." He eventually lost his job because he did his job; powerful industry lobbyists used their leverage with state politicians to get him fired.

In West Virginia, as in Washington, the corruption of those hired to keep the state's water safe can be seen in the revolving door of the state's environmental agencies: regulators "leave for higher-paying jobs at the companies they once policed." Pressure from the EPA has been seriously lacking, too:

Enforcement lapses were particularly bad under the administration of President George W. Bush, employees say. “For the last eight years, my hands have been tied,” said one E.P.A. official who requested anonymity for fear of retribution. “We were told to take our clean water and clean air cases, put them in a box, and lock it shut. Everyone knew polluters were getting away with murder. But these polluters are some of the biggest campaign contributors in town, so no one really cared if they were dumping poisons into streams.”

The New York Times has gathered data on "more than 200,000 facilities that have permits to discharge pollutants and collected responses from states regarding compliance." Want to see how your state measures up?: "Find Water Polluters Near You." I clicked through the pages of companies in Georgia that have permits to discharge pollutants and was surprised by the number of violators who hadn't been fined for their violations. Uh.... okay....maybe I wasn't surprised. Just disgusted.

Here is another interactive map: "Clean Water Violations: The Enforcement Record." Enforcements in Georgia: 48.2 per 100 violations. Enforcement Record for my home state of Texas: 7.6 per 100 violations. Big surprise.

The "Blame the Environmentalists" Game

When the story of the White House's manipulation of the EPA's report on fuel emissions first came out in June, I thought of writing a post about this unscrupulous behavior. However, this administration has taken unscrupulousness to such a high level that one chances becoming fanatically obsessed with repudiating that behavior. I have to take a break now and then, to go outside and pull some weeds in my herb and vegetable garden, to take a walk, or to read a novel.

Then a conversation with my father in Texas reminded me of just how perniciously and successfully Fox News and the Bush administration communicate their version of events. My father complained over and over about how environmentalists have prevented efforts to find alternative sources of energy. Yes, that's right: our reliance on foreign oil is all the fault of environmentalists.

Okay, I can see his point (though I don't agree) when he complains about environmentalists' resistance to opening up ANWAR (Alaskan National Wildfire Refuge) to drilling. But he blames environmentalists for our not harnessing wind power or solar power effectively and soon. My father bitterly complained that Democratic senator Ted Kennedy was against the first proposed offshore wind farm near Cape Cod, but he didn't seem to know that Republican senator John Warner was also very much opposed to that project. In fact, in 2005, Republicans John Warner and Lamar Alexander introduced legislation (which has yet to pass) that would greatly restrict the building of wind farms. As Tom reminded me, it's also true that wildlife conservationists are concerned about the placement of wind farms, which could have a very devastating impact on migrating birds. The fact is that these issues are nuanced, and Fox News doesn't do nuance. [For another viewpoint, see Clean Edge.]

What so many people seem to have forgotten is that President Jimmy Carter promoted solar power and even had solar panels installed at the White House. He also offered legislation to promote research in solar power. However, when Ronald Reagan was elected, Reagan gutted support for research in alternative fuel sources. (And the solar panels were removed from the White House.)

My father also wonders why we don't have automobiles that are more fuel efficient.

In 2005, the Bush administration proposed very modest fuel standards for automobiles (while ignoring the biggest gas guzzlers), and these standards would not have to be met until 2011. Environmentalists complained that "the requirements were disappointing because automakers who used the old system through 2010 would only have to boost fuel economy an average of 1.3 mpg, less than the requirements from 2004 through 2007." And this was back in 2005 when gas was about $2.60 a gallon.

Government support for better gas mileage in vehicles and for improved fuel emissions is tepid; the automobile industry has just too much clout. I'm going to learn just how much clout when I read Edwin Black's Internal Combustion: How Corporations and Governments Addicted the World to Oil and Derailed the Alternatives (2006), a book I purchased (on sale, as I've committed myself to doing lately since I buy too many books) at BookPeople in Austin, Texas. I'll share later.