{"id":1177,"date":"2012-10-17T15:23:44","date_gmt":"2012-10-17T19:23:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com\/?p=1177"},"modified":"2012-10-17T15:23:44","modified_gmt":"2012-10-17T19:23:44","slug":"happy-40th-birthday-clean-water-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com\/2012\/10\/17\/happy-40th-birthday-clean-water-act\/","title":{"rendered":"Happy 40th Birthday, Clean Water Act!"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
October 16, 2012,\u00a04:39 PM<\/em>22 Comments<\/a><\/div>\n

Happy Birthday, Clean Water Act<\/h1>\n
By\u00a0ROBERT B. SEMPLE JR.<\/a><\/address>\n<\/header>\n
\nThursday, Oct. 18, marks the 40th<\/sup>\u00a0anniversary of the Clean Water Act,\u00a0a critical\u00a0 turning point in the nation\u2019s efforts to rescue its rivers, streams, lakes and wetlands from centuries of industrial, municipal and agricultural pollution. But what should be a moment of celebration is also a moment of apprehension: Republicans in the House have spent the last two years trying to undercut the law, and should they gain control of the White House and Congress in next month\u2019s elections, they could well succeed.
\nThese same Republicans are either ignorant of their political heritage or have no use for it. \u00a0Richard Nixon, a savvy Republican who appreciated the raw force behind an environmental movement that had coalesced only two years before around Earth Day, was among those pushing hardest for the law. Nixon sent a clean water bill to Congress, then vetoed the final product on Oct. 17 after it had nearly doubled in size,\u00a0 forcing Congress to override the next day. But he did so on budgetary grounds, not because he objected to its substance. \u201cThe pollution of our rivers, lakes and streams degrades the quality of American life,\u201d he said. \u201cCleaning up the nation\u2019s waterways is a matter of urgent concern to me.\u201d
\nAs it was to many others.\u00a0 Before Congress passed the bill, the Cuyahoga River in Ohio had repeatedly caught fire from oil slicks and other inflammables floating on its surface, 26 million\u00a0 fish died of contamination in a single Florida lake, raw sewage was dumped directly in great rivers like the Hudson and Mississippi, and two-thirds\u00a0 of America\u2019s waters were regarded as unfit for\u00a0 fishing or swimming.
\nThe law has done a fine job of stopping pollution from so-called \u201cpoint sources\u201d: direct discharges from industry and municipalities. Pollution from non-point sources \u2013 farm runoff, runoff from city streets and from destructive activities like mountaintop mining \u2013 have been more difficult to control.\u00a0 And big cities like New York and the nation\u2019s capital have yet to make the investments necessary to handle sewage overflows during big storms, when treatment plants are frequently overwhelmed.
\nIt\u2019s highly unlikely that Congress will address these problems; instead they\u2019re focused on dismantling the protections we already have.\u00a0 Of the 300-plus anti-environmental votes in the House during the 112th<\/sup>\u00a0Congress, as toted up by Rep. Henry Waxman of California, perhaps three dozen were aimed in one way or another at undermining clean water protections or rejecting efforts to strengthen them. The most recent manifestation\u00a0 was the oddly-named \u201cStop the War on Coal Act<\/a>,\u201d a House-passed bill that\u00a0 would effectively strip the Environmental Protection Agency of its authority to step in when state water quality standards are not strong enough to protect public health, as well as its authority to do something about mountaintop mining. \u00a0The House has also cut funding for municipal water treatment plants and resisted efforts to strengthen protections for small streams and wetlands threatened by development.
\nWhat\u2019s especially distressing is that over the last four decades few environmental laws have enjoyed as much bi-partisan support as this one. But bi-partisanship is becoming almost as faint a memory as the day when a Republican President and a Democratic\u00a0 Senate agreed on a whole series of laws protecting the air, water and\u00a0 endangered wildlife and, between them, constructed an environmental legacy of lasting\u00a0 value.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
    \n
  • <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    October 16, 2012,\u00a04:39 PM22 Comments Happy Birthday, Clean Water Act By\u00a0ROBERT B. SEMPLE JR. Thursday, Oct. 18, marks the 40th\u00a0anniversary of the Clean Water Act,\u00a0a critical\u00a0 turning point in the nation\u2019s efforts to rescue its rivers, streams, lakes and wetlands from centuries of industrial, municipal and agricultural pollution. But what should be a moment of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHappy 40th Birthday, Clean Water Act! - Alex Prud'homme<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com\/2012\/10\/17\/happy-40th-birthday-clean-water-act\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Happy 40th Birthday, Clean Water Act! - Alex Prud'homme\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"October 16, 2012,\u00a04:39 PM22 Comments Happy Birthday, Clean Water Act By\u00a0ROBERT B. SEMPLE JR. Thursday, Oct. 18, marks the 40th\u00a0anniversary of the Clean Water Act,\u00a0a critical\u00a0 turning point in the nation\u2019s efforts to rescue its rivers, streams, lakes and wetlands from centuries of industrial, municipal and agricultural pollution. But what should be a moment of…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com\/2012\/10\/17\/happy-40th-birthday-clean-water-act\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Alex Prud'homme\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AlexPrudhommeWords\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-10-17T19:23:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Alex\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/APrudhommeWords\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Alex\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com\/2012\/10\/17\/happy-40th-birthday-clean-water-act\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com\/2012\/10\/17\/happy-40th-birthday-clean-water-act\/\",\"name\":\"Happy 40th Birthday, Clean Water Act! - Alex Prud'homme\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-10-17T19:23:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-10-17T19:23:44+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com\/#\/schema\/person\/42145bed8fe517af12bd42712c34e48f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com\/2012\/10\/17\/happy-40th-birthday-clean-water-act\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com\/2012\/10\/17\/happy-40th-birthday-clean-water-act\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com\/2012\/10\/17\/happy-40th-birthday-clean-water-act\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Happy 40th Birthday, Clean Water Act!\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com\/\",\"name\":\"Alex Prud'homme\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com\/#\/schema\/person\/42145bed8fe517af12bd42712c34e48f\",\"name\":\"Alex\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4762a105a44e5b1a4dbb1da4f5d8caff?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4762a105a44e5b1a4dbb1da4f5d8caff?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Alex\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AlexPrudhommeWords\/\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/alex.prudhomme\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/APrudhommeWords\",\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Alex_Prudhomme\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com\/author\/alex\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Happy 40th Birthday, Clean Water Act! - Alex Prud'homme","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com\/2012\/10\/17\/happy-40th-birthday-clean-water-act\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Happy 40th Birthday, Clean Water Act! - Alex Prud'homme","og_description":"October 16, 2012,\u00a04:39 PM22 Comments Happy Birthday, Clean Water Act By\u00a0ROBERT B. SEMPLE JR. Thursday, Oct. 18, marks the 40th\u00a0anniversary of the Clean Water Act,\u00a0a critical\u00a0 turning point in the nation\u2019s efforts to rescue its rivers, streams, lakes and wetlands from centuries of industrial, municipal and agricultural pollution. But what should be a moment of…","og_url":"https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com\/2012\/10\/17\/happy-40th-birthday-clean-water-act\/","og_site_name":"Alex Prud'homme","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AlexPrudhommeWords\/","article_published_time":"2012-10-17T19:23:44+00:00","author":"Alex","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/APrudhommeWords","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Alex","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com\/2012\/10\/17\/happy-40th-birthday-clean-water-act\/","url":"https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com\/2012\/10\/17\/happy-40th-birthday-clean-water-act\/","name":"Happy 40th Birthday, Clean Water Act! - Alex Prud'homme","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-10-17T19:23:44+00:00","dateModified":"2012-10-17T19:23:44+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com\/#\/schema\/person\/42145bed8fe517af12bd42712c34e48f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com\/2012\/10\/17\/happy-40th-birthday-clean-water-act\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com\/2012\/10\/17\/happy-40th-birthday-clean-water-act\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com\/2012\/10\/17\/happy-40th-birthday-clean-water-act\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Happy 40th Birthday, Clean Water Act!"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com\/","name":"Alex Prud'homme","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com\/#\/schema\/person\/42145bed8fe517af12bd42712c34e48f","name":"Alex","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4762a105a44e5b1a4dbb1da4f5d8caff?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4762a105a44e5b1a4dbb1da4f5d8caff?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Alex"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AlexPrudhommeWords\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/alex.prudhomme\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/APrudhommeWords","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Alex_Prudhomme"],"url":"https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com\/author\/alex\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1177"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1177"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1177\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}