PROTECTION OF ENVIRONMENT
NOT BEEN SEEN FOR DECADES 13—THE ACT HAS MADE ITS CASE IN COURT AND, BY ITS IMITATION, TO THE WORLD YET, WE DO NOT HAVE CLEAN WATER TO BE SURE, WE HAVE IMPROVED WATER QUALITY SINCE CIRCA 1972—WHEN RIVERS AND HARBORS WERE SO CONTAMINATED THEY WERE ACTUALLY CATCHING FIRE 15—BUT, TAKEN AS A WHOLE, WE HAVE NOT HAD CLEAN WATER IN AMERICA IN THE LIFETIME OF ANYONE LIVING MOREOVER, THE MORE WE LEARN ABOUT THE ACTUAL QUALITY OF AMERICA’S WATERS TODAY, THE WORSE, IN THE AGGREGATE, THE NEWS WE HAVE BEEN SPARED KNOWING HOW POLLUTED OUR WATERS ARE BY THE SIMPLE FACT THAT WE HAVE NOT MADE A SERIOUS EFFORT TO FIND OUT ONLY 19% OF THE NATION’S RIVERS, LAKES, AND ESTUARIES HAVE BEEN ASSESSED FOR POLLUTION, 16 AND THESE FOR, IN MOST CASES, ONLY THE MOST RUDIMENTARY CON- TAMINANTS THE DATA AVAILABLE HAVE LED TO THE ROTE CONCLUSION THAT APPROXI- MATELY ONE-THIRD OF AMERICA’S WATERS DO NOT MEET WATER QUALITY STANDARDS THAT NUMBER MAY BE HIGH, MORE LIKELY IT IS LOW, BUT IF IT IS EVEN IN THE BALL- PARK IT IS BAD NEWS FOR A COUNTRY THAT HAS POURED BILLIONS OF DOLLARS AND COUNTLESS WORK-YEARS INTO PROGRAMS INTENDED TO DO NO LESS THAN ELIMINATE POLLUTION AND SECURE CLEAN WATER NATIONWIDE WHAT HAS GONE WRONG, OF COURSE, IS THAT POLLUTION SOURCES NOT REGULATED BY THE ACT HAVE BLOOMED LIKE ALGAE TO SWALLOW THE GAINS A REGIONAL STORY MIGHT SERVE AS AN EXAMPLE THE GULF OF MEXICO IS ONE OF THE RICHEST MARINE ENVIRONMENTS ON EARTH, HOSTING TWO-FIFTHS OF AMERICA’S COASTAL WETLANDS, ONE-THIRD OF ITS COMMERCIAL SEAFOOD, 19 AND ONE-HALF OF ITS MIGRATORY WATER- FOWL 20 GULF FISHERIES WEIGH IN AT NEARLY TWO BILLION POUNDS PER YEAR, STIMU- LATING $26 BILLION IN COMMERCE 21 MORE THAN 100 HUNDRED COMMUNITIES WITH UNIQUE HISTORIES AND CULTURES LIVE ON THE GULF AND FROM THESE RESOURCES 22 IN RECENT DECADES, THE GULF HAS BEGUN TO DIE AT THE MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND SPREADING WEST TO TEXAS IS AN 8,000 SQUARE MILE “DEAD ZONE” OF WATER TOO ANAEROBIC TO SUPPORT LIFE 23 BOTTOM-DWELLERS DIE, MENHADEN AND SHRIMP MOVE OUT, 24 AND WITH THEM GO THE REST OF THE FOOD CHAIN UP TO AND IN- CLUDING HUMANS THE DIE-OFF IS FROM ANIMAL WATERS AND FERTILIZERS, THE LION’S SHARE OF WHICH ENTER THE MISSISSIPPI FROM LANDS ABOVE ITS CONFLUENCE WITH THE OHIO, 25 MORE THAN 975 RIVER MILES AWAY EVERY STATE AND EVERY MAJOR WATERSHED IN AMERICA CAN TELL A SIMILAR STORY 27 THE WATERS IN NORTHERN WISCONSIN ARE POLLUTED BY DAIRY FARMS, 28 IN NORTH CAROLINA BY HOGS, 29 IN MARYLAND BY CHICKENS, 30 IN SOUTH FLORIDA BY SUGAR, 31 IN WYOMING BY BEEF CATTLE, 32 IN OREGON BY CLEARCUTS, 33 IN MAINE BY LOGGING ROADS, 34 IN CALIFORNIA BY IRRIGATION RETURN FLOWS, 35 AND ACROSS SUBUR- BAN AMERICA BY AN EXPANDING AND IRREVERSIBLE CROP OF TRACT HOUSING AND SUBDIVISIONS, 36 ALL OF WHICH HAVE SEVERAL CHARACTERISTICS IN COMMON INDI- VIDUALLY SMALL, IT IS THEIR CUMULATIVE IMPACTS THAT ARE THE PROBLEM, AND WE HAVE NOT YET IN ANY MEDIUM FOUND AN EASY WAY TO PERSUADE PEOPLE TO FIX PROBLEMS FOR WHICH THEY ARE ONLY A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR FURTHERMORE, AL