The Case for a Water Tax
| Fri Jul. 17, 2009 4:00 PM PDT
Despite the summertime fun that ensues when a burst pipe transforms a neighborhood street into a water park, the problem has gotten a bit out of hand. Last year alone, America experienced 240,000 water main breaks, resulting in the loss of billions of gallons of water. And it's only going to get worse. In the next 20 years, the EPA predicts a shortfall of more than $500 billion in needed drinking and wastewater infrastructure investments. We're headed towards a future of sputtering faucets and overflowing sewage plants.
This week, Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) proposed an interesting solution: funding the repair of America's water works with a tax on products that burden it. He'd extract funds from cosmetics, toothpaste, and pharmaceuticals--they're often difficult to remove in wastewater plants and can harm the environment--and bottled beverages, which have a carbon and water footprint that goes far beyond the liquids that they contain.
The tax might be a tough sell in Congress (see the gas tax), but it begins to lay the groundwork for a more logical approach to regulating water. Scientists now have the tools to calculate the water footprints of a wide range of businesses and products. I explore how crunching those numbers could help solve the water crisis in our current issue.
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Comments
Congress? Logic? What are
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri Jul. 17, 2009 6:57 PM PDT.
Congress? Logic? What are you smoking?
populism...
Submitted by David Zetland (not verified) on Wed Jul. 22, 2009 5:36 AM PDT.
...doesn't often make sense, and this doesn't either.
What army of bureaucrats will calculate the tax? big problem.
I find it amusing that a
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat Jul. 25, 2009 6:10 AM PDT.
I find it amusing that a republican originally was responsible for creating the gas tax. Now the republicans have drifted so far into absurd ideology that such an idea would never be tolerated within the party. Instead of raising the gas tax to encourage use of more fuel efficient cars (as in europe) we spend billions on programs that cannot succeed like the cash for clunkers program and fleet MPG regulations.
Of course we should pay a tax for every gallon of water used with no exceptions. The money should be used for maintenance and watershed conservation.
A WATER Tax?
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed Jul. 29, 2009 3:04 PM PDT.
A water tax? That may not present as a great idea for a tax on all water, but certainly in some areas, it may very well be a good idea. For instance, if they were to tax bottled water, it would be a good idea. Bottled water, for one, is regulated by the FDA, and if you pay attention to some of the FDA's sordid past you get the sense they kind of don't care as long as corporate interests are served, whereas tap is regulated by the EPA. (Granted, not a lot better, but they at least have multiple people in every district on staff.) Furthermore, a large portion of bottled water companies sell water that is bottled at municipal sources - which means that a fair share of bottled water IS tap water. A filter, such as Brita or Pur can be used far better than buying cases and cases of bottles, which are non-biodegradable, by the way. Also, a water tax on sodas may not be such a bad idea either - even though interference with the consumer market is never something that the government really ought to do, but to be frank, maybe it's time we cut back.
Other than a tax on bottled water, let's be honest - do we really need to water our lawns every day? Considering that grass is only good for feeding cattle, perhaps we could be planting more useful vegetation, but that's only a thought - even if a valid one. (A person could grow some of their own food in lieu of grass, which doesn't have much use beyond aesthetics when properly maintained.) A higher water premium on yard owning households, perhaps?
I don't think Congress will go for it, but a water tax, at least on things that have no justifiable purpose in a large picture sort of view (ie. sodas and bottled water, yards, etc) may be a good idea. We have precious little drinkable water on this planet (and it is receding) so at least some sort of water conservation effort is easily warranted, and perhaps a water tax is a good way to start achieving it.
MORE BULLSHIT
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri Jul. 31, 2009 7:53 AM PDT.
What the fuck are you all talking about ? Water is attracted to itself you fucking idiots the more water we use the more the trees will grow and the more rain will be created.
Water is the only element that can reproduce itself without anything else needed other that a form of fusion created by the water s movement and the size of the container it is in. havent you heard of condensation ??
DICKHEADS.
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