“I hate wind,” said Donald Trump during a political fundraising event with oil executives at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida last week. While he probably meant wind turbines, I think he hates wind because it’s the natural enemy of his hair. He has a long vendetta against wind turbines, calling them unreliable, bad for the environment, and that they are driving whales crazy. What’s ironic about his comments is all those planet-warming fossil fuels will increase jet stream wind speeds by two and a half times by the middle of this century. And what about how our warming oceans are fueling more frequent and destructive hurricanes?
As you know, when giant corporations give large donations, they expect something in return. That might be looser environmental regulations or ignoring polluters altogether. That happened last week when the Environmental Protection Agency placed the burden of filtering toxic PFAS chemicals from our drinking water on primarily small and non-profit water utilities, all while the big chemical companies that polluted our water in the first place get to keep doing it.
There are tons of examples of this in the United States. Occasionally, the companies screw up so badly they end up having to pay fines. BP paid around $65 billion after it spilled 134 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, devastating the environment, wildlife, local economies, and livelihoods. That’s the same profit the company made in 2011. Basically, its punishment was equal to ONE year of its profit. Since 2010, the company has made about $643 billion in profit.
Earlier this month, the freight railroad operator Norfolk Southern reached a $600 million settlement with victims of the Feb. 2023 East Palestine chemical train derailment. The company made $8 billion in profit that year.
While justice is good, civil penalties and fines are just part of doing business. It puts a relatively cheap price tag on the environment and human health. BP not only continues to drill in the Gulf of Mexico but also builds new drilling platforms. And Norfolk Southern is still carting dangerous chemicals around the country.
But what about when there is no justice to be found?
This week in the Meltdown, we’ll take a brief look at why tens of millions of Americans are still dealing with lead poisoning in their water and homes, and the horrific condition of America’s 3.5 million miles of rivers. Before you read on, please feel free to follow me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. And share this newsletter with your friends if you think they’ll enjoy it.
Drizzle
A galvanized pipe that was found as crews work to replace lead water lines with new copper lines along Empire Avenue in Benton Harbor, Michigan on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022. (Joel Bissell | MLive.com)Joel Bissell | MLive.com
It might surprise you, or maybe not, that 22 million Americans still drink water from lead pipes nearly 40 years after the federal government banned them. Oh, and 50% of all children under six years old have some lead levels in their blood. I’m not done—a further 40 million live in homes with lead paint contamination 45 years after a national ban on that. It’s confusing. It took us 20 years to put a man on the moon in the late 1960s, but we haven’t been able to dig up some old pipes and scrap flaky lead paint off walls in four decades?
Lead is highly toxic to people, especially young children. It can stunt their IQ, hold them back at school, and cause antisocial personality traits, leading to all kinds of problems as they get older. They make less money and can’t hold down jobs. They are impulsive and four times more likely to get in trouble with the law. In adults, it can affect our kidneys, brains, and even our sex life.
Reckon spoke with a Harvard professor about the issue.
Compost Dump
FILE - People walk toward Tower Rock to check out the attraction normally surrounded by the Mississippi River and only accessible by boat, Oct. 19, 2022, in Perry County, Mo. Amid a major drought in the Western U.S., a proposed solution comes up repeatedly: large-scale river diversions, including pumping Mississippi River water to parched states. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)AP
I’m starting to think the United States has real attitude problems with water, which is odd given that it’s kind of important. We need it to survive, so it really might not surprise you that the country’s 200,000 rivers are not doing great. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, around 44% of waterways are too polluted for swimming or fishing. Rivers support a vast number of jobs nationwide and are home to countless animal and plant species. While the days of seeing rivers ablaze due to severe pollution may be behind us, new and equally daunting challenges have emerged, making safeguarding and rejuvenating these lifelines more complex and urgent than ever.
Each year, an environmental advocacy group releases America’s Most Endangered Rivers report, which crucially reminds us of how little progress we’re making in keeping rivers clean. The threat in New Mexico is so bad that its entire river network was placed on the list. It’s no surprise that rivers in Mississippi, West Virginia, and Tennessee are also noted, alongside waterways in so-called eco-friendly places like California and Alaska.
Seeya
This week’s Meltdown was a heavy one. I’m sorry. It makes me nostalgic for the solar eclipse edition when we spoke about the awe of life and things bigger and more beautiful than avoiding lead poisoning or trains full of chemicals. That said, in 1.3 billion years, the sun will be so close to Earth that nothing will survive. Humans will be gone long before that. I’m not trying to be a bummer, but maybe it’s not too much to ask that in the meantime we look after it a bit more—a lot more.
Also, are you telling me a little wind isn’t glorious on a hot summer’s day?
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See you next week.