As we continue to see ever-more disturbing images on the shores of Louisiana from the gulf oil spill, it’s worth thinking again about the immense ecological importance of wetlands and why they must be protected. Oil from the leak has already filtered up from the beaches into Louisiana’s coastal wetlands, killing wildlife there. Ironically, last [...]
In the United States, lawns are so ubiquitous that they seem to be almost a basic human right. That’s a serious problem, given the enormous resources that our North American lawn-fetish consumes.
The Economist has released a Special Report on Water, dated May 22nd, 2010, written by John Grimond. The 18 page report contains 9 short but substantial articles giving an overview of global water issues.
Earlier this month, I was lucky enough to travel to Haiti to install a weather monitoring station, as well as conduct streamflow measurements and water quality assessments with Water Center employee Lior Asaf. Traveling to Haiti gave me my first exposure to how water and climate issues are affecting poor and developing countries, as well [...]
With Jenni’s recent post on “Water Human Rights: Pollution,” I started to question the safety and current state of the public water system here in the United States. Charles Duhigg’s New York Times article confirmed my suspicions of the potentially dangerous quality of water in the US municipal water system. The Clean Water Act of 1972 and [...]
People often cringe at the thought of water that was once wastewater being treated and used as drinking water. However, in Tampa, Florida, voters will be deciding next year on whether to use reclaimed water as part of the city’s drinking water. Reclaimed water is highly treated wastewater that is often used as a replacement [...]
On Saturday, June 13, 2009, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with her Canadian counterpart, Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon, in Niagara Falls to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the Boundary Waters Treaty. While the Treaty governs all international waters shared by Canada and the USA, its primary application is to Great Lakes’ policy. As part of the [...]
From U.S. News: Obama Likely to Boost Water Quality Rules After Years of Lax Regulation
[The Clean Water Act] Passed in 1972, the law was interpreted by both Congress and the courts for nearly 30 years as protecting virtually all federal waters. But in 2001, and again in 2006, the Supreme Court handed down rulings that served, in effect, to limit the law’s reach.
Tighter regulations should lead to an increase in environmental violations and a push (or is it a pull) for utilities and industry to upgrade infrastructure. The Water Quality Investment Act of 2009, currently in the House of Representatives, authorizes $13.8 billion over five years for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund and $1.8 billion for EPA grants to address combined sewage overflows and storm sewer overflows.
State of the Planet is a forum for discussion on varying viewpoints. The opinions expressed by the authors and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Earth Institute or Columbia University.
