Replacing Lead Pipes as Industrial Policy
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Among the many excellent things about the EPA’s order to replace all the nation’s lead pipes is that not only does it create a healthier and safer America, but it means a lot of union jobs. Of course the Washington Post phrases it differently:
The rule finalized Tuesday, which could eliminate a toxic threat to American children, is projected to cost tens of billions of dollars.
Of course, what about the deficit or what not…..
Speaking in Milwaukee on Tuesday, President Joe Biden said the United States should have addressed the danger lead pipes pose to the country’s drinking water years ago.
“For too long, local communities have known how important it was to deal with this problem,” he said during an event at the Milwaukee Department of Public Works. “It hadn’t been given the national priority it demanded though. I’m here today to tell you that I am finally insisting that it gets prioritized, and I’m insisting it get done.”
The groundbreaking regulation, called the Lead and Copper Rule Improvements, will establish a national inventory of lead service lines and require that utilities take more aggressive action to remove lead pipes on homeowners’ private property. It also lowers the level of lead contamination that will triggergovernment enforcement from 15 parts per billion (ppb) to 10 ppb.
The rule also establishes the first-ever national requirement to test for lead in schools that rely on water from public utilities. It mandates thatwater systems screen all elementary and child-care facilities, where those who are the most vulnerable to lead’s effects — young children — are enrolled, and that they offer testing to middle and high schools.
The White House estimates that more than 9 million homes across the country are still supplied by lead pipelines, which are the leading source of lead contamination through drinking water. The EPA has projected that replacing all of them could cost at least $45 billion.
Lead pipes were initially installed in cities decades ago because they were cheaper and more malleable, but the heavy metal can wear down and corrode over time. Biden has made replacing them one of his top environmental priorities, securing $15 billion to give states over five years through the bipartisan infrastructure law and vowing to rid the country of lead pipes by 2031. The administration has spent $9 billion so far — enough to replace up to 1.7 million lead pipes, the administration said.
On Tuesday, the administration said it was providing an additional $2.6 billion in funding for pipe replacement. Over 367,000 lead pipes have been replaced nationwide since Biden took office, affecting nearly 1 million people, according to White House officials.
See, this is what we mean by a green economy. It is about climate change, yes, and of course replacing lead pipes doesn’t address that. But making a safer and healthier America through union jobs, that’s what it is all about. Of course that might not help a lot of union members see that they should vote for Democrats, but that’s not the point either.