Job, Pipes, Water
Last night the House of Representatives passed the Jobs for Main Street Act by a vote of 217-212.
The Act would provide $2 billion for wastewater and drinking water infrastructure. This could lead to about 50,000 people having good jobs repairing water mains, detecting leaks, and modernizing treatment plants.
As we move into the New Year, we need to be prepared to push for even more funding for our nation‚ crumbling pipes. Even with a new commitment to rebuilding our infrastructure, we face a funding gap of $22 billion a year. That means the money we spend on our water infrastructure falls $22 billion short of what we need to spend just to keep up with aging pipes.
So, while yesterday‚ victory was a good start, we need to do more.
Next year we need to focus on fixing the haphazard, earmark-ridden process we use to fund water infrastructure in the United States. We need to pass H.R. 3202, the Water Protection and Reinvestment Act that will create a clean water trust fund with a dedicated source of funding that Congress cant tinker with. Ask your Member of Congress to support the Trust Fund and vote for H.R. 3202.
In the meantime, we need to push the Senate to follow the House and approve the Jobs for Main Street Act so we can get to work fixing our pipes.
Mitch Jones
Policy Analyst
mjones@fwwatch.org
I think the future of water treatment is to treat it as the life-giver that it is. We should not keep re-investing in cleaning water that we go to the bathroom in. This is a waste of a precious resource and is very energy intensive. With the issues of climate change already happening, the future of waste should be completely waterless and the investments put towards waterless home systems. It would be great to see your group lead on this with the passage of the Jobs for Main St act. Thanks for everything that you do.
“DRINKING WITH DARWIN”
from gloriana casey…….
I turned the tap on for a drink,
and out the faucet ran,
A plethora of pharma stuff.
Now water changes “man.”
For bipolar, there’s litheum,
which brings a question true.
With this stuff coming from our tap,
will QUADpolar be new?
Mood stabilizers with each gulp,
with sex hormones…uh huh…
Will future humans morph their genes,
and each sex born as TWO?
Nitroglycerin….yum oh yum…
and does my heart beat surge?
Will antibiotic water….
be better stuff than Lourdes?
Mood stabilizers in a sip
is Orwell’s “soma” here?
New water boarding in a drink..
it makes our minds unclear!
How did our once pure stuff of life,
become this fearful sludge?
Belly up to the bar, now boys,
So Darwin , be our judge.
In 50 years, it seems we have,
changed ALL our H2O
But truly, I must ask of you….
Where’s earth life now to go?