Republicans and the Clean Water Act

In this blog post, I evaluate media coverage on a different facet of my environmental topic. Recent news pertains to the Clean Water act in the United States and the lack of support it is receiving from the Republican Party. According to media coverage, this poses a major threat to the strength of the Clean Water act and the efforts to prevent pollution and waste from invading various bodies of water.

Los Angeles Times Article, “Too Dirty to Fail?” is written by Lisa P. Jackson, the administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency. She states that the Republican stance on environment is negative, and says that the situation is a major threat to the protection of water from pollution and waste. Jackson also mentioned that the lack of water protection can directly correlate to pressing issues with health.The Los Angeles Times article uses example of pollutants such as Mercury, Soot and Nitric Oxides, with their possibly effects on the human body, to portray the severity of this issue. The use of these different examples, with in depth description of the possible health problems that can arise, make this news story effective. It uses the approach of education and awareness to address citizens about the concerns for protection of water. Jackson’s approach provides an understandable explanation, for the everyday citizen absorbing the news and focuses on presenting the Clean water issue as worrisome.

The NY Times article titled “GOP vs. the Environment,” was published October 14^th, a week earlier than the Los Angeles Times article mentioned above. Interviewed in this piece, Henry Waxman (senior Democrat on Energy and Commerce Committee) said that the Republicans efforts to weaken the clean water and air acts is the “most anti environmental Congress in history.” The NY Times provides a brief view into the history of the Republican Party, mentioning their support for environmental issues in the 1990’s. The most pressing problem addressed in this article, similar to the Los Angeles Times, is the weakening of the clean water and air acts causing pollution and health problems. Another Democrat was interviewed (Barbara Boxer) and she brought up the health risks that can surface without support for the Clean Water act.

With an issue such as the Clean Water act, the news coverage is either neutral stating the facts, or split based on political parties- similar to a lot of environmental issues.

The Los Angeles Times article about the Clean Water act can be considered biased because the author is the administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency, so her job is to thus, protect the environment. However, her presentation of the material is valid amongst other sources, and relays valuable guidelines that should be followed for citizens. The facts are presented accurately, as well as the problems that can surface if this issue is not addressed.

The NY Times article is more neutral in its presentation of the facts than the Los Angeles Times article. There is less of a voice in the NY TImes article, even though it is in the opinion pages. The last sentence presents an opinion, but the general display of information and news is straight forward. However, the two sources mentioned in the article (Henry Waxman and Barbara Boxer) are both Democrats. The perspective of a Republican Party member could present a different dimension to the issue.

Both articles present the issue with the Republican party and the environment, but there is a very different tone presented in the LA Times Article. This can hinder the ability to stay neutral on the issue, and sway to take sides with the Democrat, or pro- Environmentalist perspective. As a general news source, the NY Times is more objective, just presenting hard facts about the current issue and getting the news out there in an understandable, unbiased way. In both articles, including a Republican's outlook on the issue, even if only to strengthen the Democrat's position, would make the news seem less one sided. As a reader, if you are neutral on the situation, it is valuable to understand both sides so that you can move forward and formulate your own opinions as an educated, informed citizen.

The video below, from the Global Report, talks about rising pollution rates in various bodies of water in the United States. This is due to the vagueness of the Supreme Court in expressing which bodies of water are protected by the Clean Water Act. As a result, according to the EPA, about 117 million American citizens access drinking water that is now potentially being polluted because these bodies of water are not protected by the Clean Water Act.

Outbreak in Haiti: Cholera claims lives

The most common cause of Cholera is lack of clean water. The most common cure for Cholera is clean water. Ironic.

This disease is more common in developing countries, such as Haiti, where there is a lack of sewage systems and way of transporting clean water to people. Recent news is discussing the reasons for deaths in Haiti and the ways in which the country can address the problems of getting clean water, and getting access to it. For information about this alarming issue, the UN News Centre reports on nearly 470,000 cholera cases in Haiti over the past year.

On October 13, 2011, CNN’s Health news released an article titled “Lessons from Haiti’s deadly cholera outbreak,” which discusses what the disease is, what it is caused by and what the situation is currently in Haiti. A doctor interviewed by CNN (Dr. Robert Tauxe) stressed that since the outbreak there have been efforts to make changes, causing the number of deaths to decrease for 4% to 1%. CNN mentioned that the main reason for the deaths was that people in Haiti could not acquire clean water, or had no access to it in a time of crisis. CNN presents a very serious situation and portrays Haiti as a struggling country in stating that the actions that are necessary to take to continue preventing Cholera and bacterial infection are not easy for them. For people in Haiti, it is the lack of water, as well as the lack of medical professionals that leaves this as a continuous problem. CNN's article said that 6,000 lives have been claimed from Cholera in the past year. CNN stated that CDC officials believe that educating the people in Haiti is the best way to help them treat the disease, but according to other sources, it seems like the issue may go beyond informing the public and just centrals around the access to the water.

On the same day, October 13, 2011, news from the Associated Press provided a strikingly different portrayal of the situation in Haiti in an article titled "Experts say Haiti has worst Cholera." CNN shined light on positive change, and that the number of deaths were decreasing. However, this article titled “Haiti group sees jump in cholera cases in capital,” presents the issue as worsening.

(Photo from necell.com)

Zintzen, head of Doctors without Borders, was interviewed in this article and denoted the increase in deaths from the rainfall and causing waterborne diseases. The Associated Press article does not mention education as an outlet for success in decreasing the number of those affected by Cholera, but highlights how the poverty of the country remains the major issue.This article has similar statistics as CNN, stating that more than 6,200 have been killed since last year from Cholera, but also mentions an alarming number of 440,000 that have become ill, but not passed away from the poor water sanitation in Haiti.

A third article by the Washington Post, "Halting Cholera's rampage in Haiti," written on September 22nd, presents the statistic of 6,500 people who have died from Cholera and almost half a million that have been affected (close to 440,000 number given in Associated Press article). Overall, the numbers found in the three articles are similar. However, the Washington Post states that officials are enumerating incorrectly and the stats are a lot lower than what they actually are. This means, the situation with the water contamination in Haiti may be much more concerning than we are told. For the first time in the articles viewed, the Washington Post highlights the earthquake in Haiti as the commencement of major issues with water sanitation. Also, this article talks about the effects of the earthquake really playing a roll in the people’s access to water that is clean. So, not only is the actual water an issue, but finding access to water in general remains a problem.

The Washington Post article echoes the trend presented in CNN’s article- that the number of deaths is decreasing and that education will need to be present for the problem to successfully be addressed. This article highlights the importance of the people understanding sanitation as a means of assisting in the country’s struggle.

(Photo from Info Checkers)

The coverage of recent issues with Cholera and water sanitation in Haiti varies. The media presents the severities of the problem and various procedures to try to solve it. The media is conveying the lack of clean water in Haiti as problematic, but some sources believe they are on the upswing (Washington Post article), while others believe that the situation is at its worst (CNN article and Associated Press article). The differences in the media coverage of how to combat the problem of Cholera are most concerning because those absorbing the news may believe education to the people is the best way of fueling recovery in Haiti, while others will invest money to support this developing country from afar. To ensure that Haiti can overcome the continuing deaths from lack of clean water, consistency in the approach to problem solving, presented by the media, would be beneficial.

**On Nov 8, another article was released by CNN discussing the compensation that Haiti victims are petitioning for from the UN to aid in their recovery from cholera. This is an interesting follow up to my blog post and news evaluations from over a month earlier. Now 6,700 people have been killed, and they are demanding compensation for a sickness that killed so many of their people, but apparently didn't originate in their country.