This is an opinion post.
I attended a Micah Six Eight Community meeting at the Sulphur Library. The topic was microplastics in the water, and it was very informative. My brain chews on information like a dog chews on a squeaky toy. Bits and pieces of information flashed in and out of my thoughts while I sat and listened. It chewed on a movie I saw in 2015 called The Big Short. I remember the end of the story right before the credits saying one of the characters was investing in water. When I watched that, it landed in my brain and settled there. Why? Why water? Surely nothing could happen to our water that would compare to the topic of the movie, right? It crunched on the news about all the states facing water shortages. It gnawed on an image of bottles of water I have at home because I don’t trust the tap water. It chewed up the number of boil orders we have almost on a weekly basis. It shredded the thoughts into one dark realization: We have been selling our most valuable resource for the promise of a job.
We are taught that two-thirds of the whole planet is water, so water seems like an abundant resource. Not all water is the same, though. It is not all drinkable, and it is not all usable for farming or industry. It is quickly becoming apparent that water is one of the most—if not the most—valuable resources we have, and in Louisiana, we have a good amount of usable water. Some of that has been wasted and ruined on the promise of jobs. Jobs are a very cheap payment for our water.
As more and more water issues become apparent, many greedy eyes are looking at Louisiana as a good solution. Those greedy eyes will soon turn into greedy hands. That valuable resource, which is already being ruined and polluted, may be taken right away from us before we even realize how stupidly we lost it.
I have been to some meetings that make me shake my head in dismay at how flippantly we treat our water as a state. Louisiana water is sustainable only if we manage it correctly. We have been mismanaging it and selling it cheap for the promise of jobs. Anytime the industry wants something, they start spouting about jobs: “Give us this and protect your jobs,” “Let us pour out more waste and protect jobs,” “Pass this law or tax break and protect jobs,” and “If you don’t do this, you are against jobs.”
Without our water, there will be nothing to protect. If we keep selling out our water resources to Industry at such cheap prices we are shorting Louisiana. We need to step up and instead of saying we want jobs, we need to say we want fair compensation for our resources. We want industry taxed. We want harsher sanctions for ‘accidents’, especially ones that damage our valuable resources. No more slap on the hand with a soft glove. Real sanctions! Real fines! Real payment for what is turning into our most valuable resource. You want to put dangerous carbon captured pollutants under our lakes, you must commit to monitoring and restoration should it mess up the water. Legally signed commitments.
Michigan has already faced court battles with other states that want its water. As more states misuse and overuse their resources, they will be looking at Louisiana. More and more industries will turn greedy eyes toward our state. We need to decide now that we will not let our water go for the price of a job. If companies want to do business here, they must pay our communities and state their fair share. If they waste or ruin our resources, they should be held liable for their restoration or full reimbursement for the damages caused. No more tax breaks. Pay the fair price owed to our state and communities.
We need to start now! We are way behind on this. Our politicians only care about money. Not money for us. Money for their own pockets. They pull us along with them with the same rhetoric as the industry. “Stand with me and stand for jobs” It’s time we toss them out and push for taxes on industry and better penalties for careless practices. Time to let them know that, yes, jobs are important to us, and so is real invested money in our state and community. Stop selling us for cheap.
Anyway that is my opinion. If we are going to let go of our very valuable water resources including the Gulf, the rivers, the underground aquifers, and bayous then it should cost way more than an empty promise of a job.
