[QUOTE=Bobotheoptimist]
That should have been “a highly diluted gram of…”, which is an entirely different thing, altogether.
Agriculture and business cause far more environmental problems than any of us can hope to counter acting as individuals. Millions of people reducing their drop-in-a-bucket adds up, but without government and business involvement it’s not going to be nearly enough, IMHO.
A government that’s committed to change supported by a population that’s willing to pay the short term price for long term benefits can, I believe, push the automakers, farmers, and other large businesses to develop and implement cleaner processes. The customer and taxpayer are going to get stuck funding it of course, and most people don’t buy the “green is actually cheaper” argument because prices and taxes will certainly have to increase to get the ball rolling.
Also, I don’t live anywhere near a bay and, as I implied earlier, my wastewater and storm runoff goes nearly straight to irrigation. My local water departments aren’t very worried about carwash runoff, gets only minor mention in their literature, unlike other auto waste which seems to them to be a far bigger problem. I guess maybe the OP and others are located in places with very delicate and/or seriously overtaxed wetland ecosystems directly downstream.
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Water issues do vary by area. This is something that is often overlooked by Greens in the LA area in my opinion. What is a critical concern of both usage and waste in LA is not as big a concern in NJ or Washington State. Though of course, stopping toxic waste from being dumped in with wastewater is very important anywhere. We don’t generally have a shortage of water. Our shortages are short termed when they occur. (I still have water saving shower heads and use well water for the little bit of watering I do outside.)
In my area, waste management is probably the bigger concern, as NYC & NJ have to export garbage, as there is not enough landfill left. Dumping at sea remains a bad but active practice.
I think saving energy and encouraging our government to reduce air pollution for our transportation and energy industry is of vital importance. We have come a long way in cleaning up estuaries in the US. We have reduced smog in most of the country. We have protected water supplies in many areas that were endangered. We need to reduce our energy needs and clean up our electrical plants.
Clean Coal, more Natural Gas, Nuclear power, Solar & Wind and especially a reduction in energy consumption with additional emphasis put on transportation. This should be our government’s primary concern to clean the air, reduce carbon emissions and reduce our reliance on imported oil.
Then working with other leading nations we need to strongly encourage developing nations to clean up.
Jim
