Flint Michigan water crises still unresolved
 |
Water has the power to unlock education, create economic potential, and improve health. Access to safe water empowers women in Peru with time to work, kids in Ethiopia with time for school and families in India and around the world with bright days. Friday March 22, was International Water Day. |
Yet, humans pollute water, even though, without it, we would all die. Water has the power to change lives by providing all living beings with access to hydration. Humans have the power to clean up the water we pollute. Unfortunately, in Flint Michigan, the water pollution caused by a municipal decision to save money, is still unresolved.
On Feb. 4, Governor Whitmer signed another executive order that will address some key factors that led to the Flint Water Crisis -- and prevent another such tragedy from occurring. The order will reorganize the Department of Environmental Quality and dissolve industry-led environmental rule review panels.
The executive order Whitmer signed also calls for the creation of the Office of the Clean Water Public Advocate and the Office of the Environmental Justice Public Advocate. These offices fill a gap in state oversight. While Flint was under emergency management, residents were disenfranchised and democracy usurped. When the citizens of the majority African-American city rose up against the filthy drinking water, their concerns were ignored by an apathetic state government. Each investigation into the crisis, including former Governor Rick Snyder’s own task force and the one done by the Michigan Department of Civil Rights, pointed to race as a leading factor in the perfect storm of neglect that caused failure on all fronts -- to act, to protect, to fix, to be responsible and accountable -- even after officials clearly saw the scope of the problem.
The new offices proposed by Whitmer will help build a more responsive state government. They should ensure Michiganders have a place to go when there are problems with their drinking water. Safe drinking water is not optional. It is a human right -- a public health and medical necessity that we cannot survive without. Lead exposure has no safe level and can potentially impact the entire life trajectory of an exposed child. That is the tragedy of the Flint Water Crisis, and the reason why so many of us are working day in and day out to mitigate the impact of the population-wide exposure.
So I’m grateful to Gov. Whitmer for beginning to address these issues in her first steps in office. Yes there is much more work to do. The public health culture of these agencies will take many years to revive. But these are necessary first steps that will address problems that have been neglected for too long. The newly fashioned Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy must be responsive to Michigan’s water problems. Dumping the bureaucratic industry review panels that second guess decisions made by regulators and scientists is an important move that gets us a lot closer to a smart government all Michiganders strive for.
Public trust in leadership is pitifully low. Right now, residents of Flint and citizens across the state have given up on the idea that state government will fix their drinking water. We can’t expect that to change with a few executive orders. And why should we? Some members of the state legislature -- either unable to absorb the lessons of Flint, or overeager to please their industry friends and donors -- have already launched a push to roll-back Whitmer’s new executive orders.
Pope Francis is a former chemistry teacher. This is what he posted on Twitter @Pontifex "Let us thank God for 'sister water', such a simple and precious element, and let us strive to make it accessible to all. #WorldWaterDay
Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha published this opinion in the Flint newspaper MichiganLive
Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha published this opinion in the Flint newspaper MichiganLive
Mona Hanna-Attisha is a pediatrician, scientist and professor in Flint, Michigan. She is the founder and director of the Pediatric Public Health Initiative. She is the author of “What the Eyes Don’t See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance and Hope in an American City."
From Oscoda to Benton Harbor, residents of Michigan deserve clean water when they turn on their taps. They also deserve to know the leaders they elect will make sure their drinking water is clean and safe. A generation ago, Michigan’s leadership in environmental protection was a bipartisan tradition -- and exemplified by Republican Governor Bill Milliken’s stewardship. But the ideology of extreme austerity prevailed. Government became too small and pitifully inadequate, starved of resources and talent, factors that led directly to the Flint water crisis. In 2019, Michigan is now returning to its rightful place as a leader in environmental protection. And that doesn’t mean big government or small government. It means smart government --- moored in science and intent on public health.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer has proven that she has learned some valuable lessons from Flint. Her first executive directive was to require state civil servants to immediately report imminent threats to public health and safety, like contaminated drinking water, to their department directors.
It has been almost five years since the Flint water crisis began. In a gross corrosion of democracy, the State of Michigan switched the source of the city’s water from pretreated Great Lakes water to untreated water from the Flint River. This led to the most emblematic environmental disaster of our times, one that continues. And one that could easily happen again -- in Flint or elsewhere in Michigan, be it lead levels in the water or PFAS contamination.
From Oscoda to Benton Harbor, residents of Michigan deserve clean water when they turn on their taps. They also deserve to know the leaders they elect will make sure their drinking water is clean and safe. A generation ago, Michigan’s leadership in environmental protection was a bipartisan tradition -- and exemplified by Republican Governor Bill Milliken’s stewardship. But the ideology of extreme austerity prevailed. Government became too small and pitifully inadequate, starved of resources and talent, factors that led directly to the Flint water crisis. In 2019, Michigan is now returning to its rightful place as a leader in environmental protection. And that doesn’t mean big government or small government. It means smart government --- moored in science and intent on public health.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer has proven that she has learned some valuable lessons from Flint. Her first executive directive was to require state civil servants to immediately report imminent threats to public health and safety, like contaminated drinking water, to their department directors.
It has been almost five years since the Flint water crisis began. In a gross corrosion of democracy, the State of Michigan switched the source of the city’s water from pretreated Great Lakes water to untreated water from the Flint River. This led to the most emblematic environmental disaster of our times, one that continues. And one that could easily happen again -- in Flint or elsewhere in Michigan, be it lead levels in the water or PFAS contamination.
On Feb. 4, Governor Whitmer signed another executive order that will address some key factors that led to the Flint Water Crisis -- and prevent another such tragedy from occurring. The order will reorganize the Department of Environmental Quality and dissolve industry-led environmental rule review panels.
The executive order Whitmer signed also calls for the creation of the Office of the Clean Water Public Advocate and the Office of the Environmental Justice Public Advocate. These offices fill a gap in state oversight. While Flint was under emergency management, residents were disenfranchised and democracy usurped. When the citizens of the majority African-American city rose up against the filthy drinking water, their concerns were ignored by an apathetic state government. Each investigation into the crisis, including former Governor Rick Snyder’s own task force and the one done by the Michigan Department of Civil Rights, pointed to race as a leading factor in the perfect storm of neglect that caused failure on all fronts -- to act, to protect, to fix, to be responsible and accountable -- even after officials clearly saw the scope of the problem.
The new offices proposed by Whitmer will help build a more responsive state government. They should ensure Michiganders have a place to go when there are problems with their drinking water. Safe drinking water is not optional. It is a human right -- a public health and medical necessity that we cannot survive without. Lead exposure has no safe level and can potentially impact the entire life trajectory of an exposed child. That is the tragedy of the Flint Water Crisis, and the reason why so many of us are working day in and day out to mitigate the impact of the population-wide exposure.
So I’m grateful to Gov. Whitmer for beginning to address these issues in her first steps in office. Yes there is much more work to do. The public health culture of these agencies will take many years to revive. But these are necessary first steps that will address problems that have been neglected for too long. The newly fashioned Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy must be responsive to Michigan’s water problems. Dumping the bureaucratic industry review panels that second guess decisions made by regulators and scientists is an important move that gets us a lot closer to a smart government all Michiganders strive for.
Public trust in leadership is pitifully low. Right now, residents of Flint and citizens across the state have given up on the idea that state government will fix their drinking water. We can’t expect that to change with a few executive orders. And why should we? Some members of the state legislature -- either unable to absorb the lessons of Flint, or overeager to please their industry friends and donors -- have already launched a push to roll-back Whitmer’s new executive orders.
Sadly, the State House voted to override the executive order two days after it was announced. The profiteering polluters of Michigan are especially excited about making sure their industry review panels are kept in place, public health be damned. (Irresponsible!)
The Synder administration often recycled the line that government should be “run like a business.” This failed ideology must be trashed. The only recycling left is the millions of plastic water bottles the residents of Flint, and now in cities all over our state, have been forced to drink from.
We must be smarter. This is the moment for an impassioned call for common-sense bipartisanship. Who doesn’t want their kids to drink clean water? Who doesn’t believe that it is government’s job to protect public safety? It is incumbent on citizens - from all political sides to voice support for the critical steps Whitmer has taken to protect Michigan’s environment, and in turn, to protect our most precious Michigan resource, our children.
The Synder administration often recycled the line that government should be “run like a business.” This failed ideology must be trashed. The only recycling left is the millions of plastic water bottles the residents of Flint, and now in cities all over our state, have been forced to drink from.
We must be smarter. This is the moment for an impassioned call for common-sense bipartisanship. Who doesn’t want their kids to drink clean water? Who doesn’t believe that it is government’s job to protect public safety? It is incumbent on citizens - from all political sides to voice support for the critical steps Whitmer has taken to protect Michigan’s environment, and in turn, to protect our most precious Michigan resource, our children.
Labels: Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, Governor Gretchen Whitmer, MichiganLive, Pope Francis
posted by Juliana L'Heureux | 11:37 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home