Subscribe in a readerClean Water – A Basic Human Right
Americans tend to think of water shortages, lack of access to safe drinking water and deadly droughts as problems that occur elsewhere in the world. And it is true that many places on earth are much more seriously impacted by these conditions. In fact the United Nations General Assembly recently passed a resolution put forward by Bolivia, and co-sponsored by 35 countries, to affirm “the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right that
Diesel Pollution Rainbow photo: John, Creative Commons License
is essential for the full enjoyment of life and all human rights.” Clean Water Action applauds this statement on the need to protect the global commons and relieve human suffering.
This is a non-binding resolution, but a powerful statement by the international community that water is not a commodity to be owned by a nation or corporation. It is not a resource to be used to carelessly wash away pollutants and the waste of agricultural and manufacturing processes.
The United States has an abundance of clean, safe drinking water systems. Developed countries in general tend to regard drinking water as a baseline resource that is, and always has been there. That people in developed nations can rely on their drinking water without too much concern is not an accident. It is the result of many years of hard work by activists and advocates for clean water. When the Clean Water Act of 1972 was signed into law by President Nixon, the United States reversed direction and established regulation of our water resources, remediation of polluted bodies of water and universal access to drinkable, swimmable and fishable water.
Although we continue to move in the right direction, we have many ongoing challenges to address in protecting our country’s drinking water. As water advocates, our challenge is to build support for better systems and policy. Clean Water Action is currently working on an exciting project with the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA is working with us, water utilities, health organizations and other constituents to develop a much better and more effective set of Drinking Water Principles. This effort is long overdue and could move us much farther along the river in our journey to prevent pollutants from getting into our water in the first place.
In a society driven by profits and politics, clean, safe water is the result of a sustained, vigilant effort. But how do our actions impact the rest of the world’s water? The pollution we generate becomes part of the global commons. American and European corporations with large, offshore operations very often site their facilities in countries where laws protecting air and water are less strict or essentially non-existent. You need look no further than the Shell Oil’s operations in Nigeria to see an example of the worst kind of corporate behavior destroying the water resources of an area.
Closer to home, the maqiladoras of Matamoros, Mexico, across the border from Brownsville, Texas, are naked efforts by United States corporations to escape environmental and labor laws. They dump a nightmarish mixture of deadly toxins into the air and water of a small community of workers. Local streams are dangerously toxic; pollution pervades every aspect of life.
Water is a basic human right. For those of us in the United States it’s a case of there, but for environmental law, go we. The world has a long way to go to realize the aspiration of the UN’s resolution and the United States is no exception. The damage done to the Clean Water Act under the Bush Administration has to be addressed. Congress could take huge substantive and symbolic steps by passing the America’s Commitment to Clean Water Act and by reauthorizing The Toxics Substances Control Act this year.
Posted on August 30, 2010 | Filed Under Healthy, Safer Families and Communities, Protecting America's Waters | 1 Comment
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Diesel: the Black Soot Menace
Today’s guest blogger is Emma Shlaes, Clean Water Action National Campaigns Associate.
Summer is w
inding down. When you put your child on the bus for school, or take that one last road trip of the season, you expect that everyone will stay safe and healthy, as long as there are no accidents. But there is a hidden danger lurking around most school buses, highways and too many residential neighborhoods and schools. Dangerous and preventable diesel pollution from buses, trucks and construction vehicles is placing families in harm’s way.
Dirty diesel engines emit a mixture of particles, metals and gases called “particulate matter” which include over 40 “hazardous air pollutants” as classified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Clean Air Act. This mixture can cause a range of health problems. From increased rates of asthma, to lung cancer, stroke and heart attack, diesel pollution contributes to countless illnesses and 21,000 early deaths a year.
In addition to being a serious public health problem, diesel pollution contributes to climate change by emitting a pollutant that’s aptly named “black carbon”. Black carbon soot is approximately 2,000 times more potent as a global warming agent than an equal amount of carbon dioxide (CO2). Over half the black carbon emissions in the U.S. come from diesel engines. Fortunately, black carbon is a short-lived pollutant and does not remain in the atmosphere, so this is one aspect of climate change we can do something about right now.
Posted on August 25, 2010 | Filed Under Global Warming and a New Energy Economy, Healthy, Safer Families and Communities | 1 Comment
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Ears to the Ground on Wasteful Tax Subsidies
Today’s guest blogger is Emma Shlaes, Clean Water Action National Campaigns Associate.
Imagine my shock when I found out that corn ethanol isn’t the sustainable renewable “future fuel” that I thought it was. I had been equating it with using waste cooking oil as a fuel for cars, when it’s really more like burning coal to make electricity. Throughout its life cycle from mining to coal plant waste, coal is a way of making electricity that pollutes our water and air, threatens our health and perpetuates global warming pollution.
A new report from the Congressional Budget Offices states, “Because the production of ethanol draws so much energy from coal and natural gas, it can be thought of as a method for converting natural gas or coal to a liquid fuel that can be used for transportation.” (p 7) Ethanol is supposed to replace fossil fuels, but converting corn to a liquid fuel ends up prolonging our addiction. Coal is the epitome of a dirty energy source: destroying mountaintops, burying rivers, releasing toxic mercury, and causing acid-rain, global warming pollution, and cesspools of coal ash. And ethanol’s lingering reputation as a green energy source is not based in any real data. These are the realities behind the green veil of corn ethanol.
If that isn’t bad enough, the production of corn itself uses up large quantities of water, which could be used for better purposes, and the pesticides and fertilizers used to grow the corn crop wash into our rivers, lakes and streams. Much of that pollution ends up in the Mississippi River, traveling all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico and contributing to a growing dead zone there.
Posted on August 10, 2010 | Filed Under Global Warming and a New Energy Economy, Protecting America's Waters | 3 Comments
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The Story of Cosmetics: What’s Really in Your Personal Care Products?
Please welcome Annie Leonard as today’s guest blogger. Annie directs The Story of Stuff Project and is author of The Story of Stuff: How Our Obsession with Stuff is Trashing the Planet, Our Communities and Our Health – and a Vision for Change.
As a mother, I want to be sure that the shampoo, sunscreen, bubble bath and other personal care products my daughter uses are safe. If I stick to products in the children’s aisle at the drugstore – stuff that’s made and marketed specifically for kids – those should be OK, right?
The labels are reassuring: “Gentle.” “Pure.” “Natural.” “Free of Harsh Ingredients.” “Recommended by Pediatricians.” “Dermatologists Approved.” And of course, “No More Tears.”
But when you turn the bottles around, get out a magnifying glass and read the fine print on the back (and get online to do some research) it’s a different story: sodium laureth sulfate, diazolidinyl urea, ceteareth-20, PEGs, quaternium-15—all these are typically contaminated with cancer-causing chemicals like formaldehyde or 1,4 dioxane.
Carcinogens in baby shampoo? Are you kidding me?
Posted on July 21, 2010 | Filed Under Healthy, Safer Families and Communities | Leave a Comment
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