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Biden administration announces plan to replace 100% of lead pipes in US homes
The Biden administration on Thursday announced a "whole of government strategy" to remove dangerous lead from Americans' drinking water, including billions of dollars to begin replacing 100% of the lead pipes servicing the nation's homes.
Environmental groups praised the plan, which includes a promise to begin the process of strengthening the nation's drinking water standards to reflect the science showing that lead is toxic for children at any level.
But lawyers at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), which has been leading efforts to fight lead, said they worry that the plan lacks a solid timeline and fails to deliver enforceable requirements.
The set of actions announced by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) included the release of the first $2.9bn of $15bn approved in Biden's infrastructure plan for local water agencies to begin replacing lead pipes and called for the efforts to focus on the low-income communities who face the most risk of lead poisoning. It also listed 15 new actions across 10 federal agencies to address lead dangers from both water and paint.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Joe Desertrat on Sunday December 19 2021, @01:36AM (1 child)
Maybe, but it is the Republican administrations, at least from Reagan on, that have created the budget deficits that have led to the greatest increases in debt. Reagan increased the debt from roughly 1 trillion to roughly 3.5 trillion. Some excuse that by claiming he entered into an arm race with the Soviets that bankrupted them, but he could have accomplished the exact same thing with nearly zero increase in debt. Our economy would be much stronger today as a result, but of course the billionaires would not be as well off. Clinton got 2 years to try to reverse the damage of the Reagan/Reagan/Bush I administrations before the Republicans took the House and Newt Gingrich promised that he would oppose everything Clinton tried in order to make his administration fail (damn anyone that needed help). When Clinton left office he left Bush II with a near balanced budget, which Bush II immediately trashed. He turned a budget surplus into a deficit his first year, a record deficit his second year, and an increasing deficit every year he was in office. He handed Obama an economy that was on the verge of a depression, yet any percentage increases in the deficit in Obama's eight years were less than the lowest Bush II managed. Trump immediately raised budget deficits higher than ever, with no aim other than to enrich the already wealthy. He accomplished that, just look at how much the wealth of billionaires increased during the pandemic while nearly everyone else suffered. Biden may initially raise the debt higher, but at least it is with the aim of accomplishing something that will benefit the poor and middle class and by extension the real economy, that which affects 90% of Americans, and it is likely budget deficits will shrink as a result.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday December 19 2021, @05:54AM
Spin it whichever way makes you feel good. The fact is, congress appropriates the funds, and writes the budget. Yes, it's a given that the prez influences the budget, and the prez can veto a budget, but congress has final say over the budget. The Clinton administration presided over the most-balanced budget since - ohhh - about the 1880s I guess? But that was only because he had line-item veto for a couple years. He enjoyed an ability to trim fat that no other president has enjoyed. People give Clinton a lot of credit, but I think he gets too much credit. Congress and the courts promptly put an end to a power they feared.
I won't argue the rest of that - but history says our debt only rises, it never goes down. Our nation is addicted to spending, and has no concept of balance, or budget. Every congress makes a joke of the idea of budgeting.
Now, I'll wait for those comments suggesting that a balanced budget would be an evil thing, bringing on plagues of biblical proportions. A balanced budget is the most-feared possibility of mankind's existence, etc etc blah blah blah . . .
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.