{"id":34458,"date":"2022-02-25T00:43:44","date_gmt":"2022-02-25T05:43:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/test.greenmoney.com\/2025\/?p=34458"},"modified":"2022-03-31T20:47:05","modified_gmt":"2022-04-01T00:47:05","slug":"we-cant-afford-polluted-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.greenmoney.com\/2025\/we-cant-afford-polluted-water\/","title":{"rendered":"We Can\u2019t Afford Polluted Water"},"content":{"rendered":"
>> Back to March 2022 Issue<\/a><\/div>\n
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(Above photo credit: Unsplash – Tim Mossholder<\/a>)<\/em><\/h5>\n

\"GloriaFor far too long, protections for clean water and other environmental regulations have been framed as an impediment to a strong economy. When in reality, the opposite is true. Water is the foundation of a stable and growing economy and thriving communities. Protecting everyone\u2019s right to clean water is a moral obligation. And it\u2019s also a financial necessity. We simply can\u2019t afford polluted water.<\/p>\n

Defending our shared resources from pollution means that businesses and municipalities need to invest in smart water management strategies which hinge on reliable infrastructure, policy, and regulation. Thankfully, there has been great progress with the signing of a $1 trillion infrastructure bill last November. However, the $55 billion set aside for drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater projects doesn\u2019t fully address the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency\u2019s (EPA) projections of more than $800 billion in combined funding needs. The short-term costs are daunting, yet they pale in comparison to the long-term costs of pollution and cleanups, not to mention the countless lost opportunities therein.<\/p>\n

As an example, there are over 1,300 Superfund remedial sites in the United States. According to a 2015 EPA report, over 50 million Americans live within three miles of a Superfund site<\/a>. Nonetheless, the program has been relatively successful and helped right a lot of wrongs by cleaning up and remediating a lot of toxic sites. For signs of progress, look no further than to the Whole Foods supermarket on the shores of the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, or to the herd of American bison roaming the Rocky Mountain Arsenal in Denver. Both of these Superfund sites prove that cleanups work. But surely, preventing these areas from becoming toxic wastelands that require billions of dollars in cleanup would have been the more sound investment.<\/p>\n

Until somewhat recently, these remediation projects were funded by a trust paid for from a tax on gasoline. Since 2000, however, the American taxpayer has largely been responsible for the $21 billion in costs<\/a>. And that is just for the cleanup. It says nothing to the deleterious effects these toxic sites have on property value or, more importantly, people\u2019s health outcomes and the related costs. According to researchers at Kansas State University<\/a>, freshwater pollution from nitrogen and phosphorus alone costs taxpayers over $4 billion a year.<\/p>\n

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Hudson River, New York; Waterkeeper Alliance<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When it was passed 50 years ago, the Clean Water Act<\/strong> was intended to solve a lot of these problems. However, it continues to be weakened by a lack of enforcement and is often skirted by polluters. A common refrain is that it\u2019s too expensive to be compliant, and that these types of environmental regulations are akin to red tape choking out business. But, what\u2019s rarely mentioned are the lost opportunities related to the businesses that will never be created on account of pollution. Industries like tourism, recreation, agriculture, fishing, and more rely on clean water.<\/p>\n