Half of US rivers are so polluted "they are unable to sustain life".

Said but true. Notice how the reality of extreme pollution levels in the nation's waterways doesn't jive with the right wing talking point that "the environmental NAZIS!@!!!!2111" are pushing unnecessary standards just to kill jobs. The largest causes of water pollution are farm run off and urban runoff along with untreated or partially treated sewage/waste water.

Gee, do you think maybe we should be strengthening water quality laws rather than relaxing them as the special interests keep demanding we do?

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/03/26/more-than-half-us-rivers-unable-to-sustain-life-epa-says/


I could have used any number of links to real news sources but I thought rightforge would be most receptive to a propaganda source they were used to so I chose a Fox link.

Oh, and mercury isn't just a problem in ocean fish now and instead coal fired power plants are putting out so much mercury pollution now even fresh water fish are contaminated with it. Lovely, no reason to take action there.

I call 100% bullshit on that. Let the EPA point out the river and I am sure life can be found in it.

"We'll happily clean them for you!"

Oh, except for mercury is a natural element and it has been found in ice core samples back before man walked the earth.

Yeah, so what if they have two heads, three eyes and two full sets of male and female genitals...by God THEY"RE ALIVE!!!!

Back from the family reunion I see......

All you're cousin/brothers said "hello"

Another big problem is hormones in the water. Male fish with ovaries, fish and amphibians with cancer and hermaphroditic traits, mutant aquatic life and not the super power kind like spiderman.

Maybe this keeps rapist otters at bay.

The problem is definitely worse on the east coast but even here on the west coast, in cities which love to claim they're environmentally aware (such as San Diego), there are big problems with water quality. Part of that is the climate is drier so with less water what water is there is more easily polluted but a large part of it has been ineffective pollution controls especially on urban run off and agricultural run off.

For instance, take the local population of Southern California Steelhead, up until the 1930's they were found in both of the major rivers in the county and in all seven of the local creek systems which stretch from the mountains to the sea. Now, we're down to just one lone little creek system which still has active steelhead runs (San Mateo Creek) and the only reason that one still exists (it was thought to be extinct until 1999) is because most of the creek is located on the Marine base Camp Pendleton while the headwaters are located in the Cleveland National Forest. In two small locations in the mountains the other creek/river systems there are still native steelhead alive but dams prevent them from going down to the sea and in one of those creeks the native fish have mostly been hybridized with stocked rainbow trout. All of the other ones have been dammed, overly developed, suffer from excessive urban run off pollution, or excessive agricultural run off pollution. So much so that some of them even develop dead zones due to excess algae growth in the summer time when creek flow is lowest.

San Mateo Creek, the last creek in the county to still have active spring steelhead runs, also is the last holdout for the endangered California Golden Beaver (a name ripe for puns, I know, but it's a local subspecies of the common beaver) in the county. That's a pretty sad state of affairs even in a supposedly environmentally aware place.

You should go down to the garage and in a fit of depression cut off your own head.

Conservatives are often accused of idolizing a past American culture and way of living that never existed.

Don't lots of environmentalists do exactly the same thing with the assumption that "80 years ago things were so much better" environmentally?

Making the completely unjustified assumption that nearly a century ago was some kind of perfect, environmental nirvana that should never have changed.

Thread title and article title fail. Pollution in rivers and streams is indeed a problem. But instead of presenting the real problem, the titles make it into sensationalist lies, as the article itself shows. "Poor condition" is not at all the same thing as "unable to sustain life."

So the first statement in the OP, "Said but true," is erroneous in more ways than just the typo.

But that kind of misleading "information" is par for the course, for Fox "News." As for Wordin, well, his record speaks for itself, too. (And here comes the negrep!)

You're obviously a glass half empty kinda guy. An alternative title could be Half of US rivers are so polluted "they are able to give you superpowers".

Industry has always impacted our surroundings. In the past, it just used to be so much more obvious, like in 1850's London, where people wore scarves around their faces year round to keep from inhaling the soot from the factories.

Keep in mind that I don't think regulation is the answer, but rather looking at the way things are designed just to be thrown away. The plastic bag, for instance--even if you're [-]too cheap to buy real trash bags[/-] one that re-uses them for rubbish and dog crap, the end result is still the same. The bag ends up in a landfill and it still takes 500 years to break down entirely, ruining the soil in the process.

Or like the fertilizer problem that this and the Maryland roof thread brought up...so many harsh chemicals are put into the ground to grow bigger and bigger crops--crops that will eventually become smaller as the nutrients get sucked out the land from over-farming. And by then, the crop will be no good to grow anything.

I think it's time to start branching more and more into the cradle to cradle model of industry, where items are designed to be returned to be rebuilt into something new. This could work great for the car industry, for example, where many folks will keep the same maker of car for years...offer a discount for those who return the car for parts, and build that customer loyalty.

The best book to read on this is called, simply enough "Cradle To Cradle." It's well worth the read, and there are plenty of examples of working, sustainable business who are even saving money by using their ideas.

Remind me again why I took you off of ignore and gave you a second chance?

Dayton, more people mean more urban areas and more farms. That's just a fact so you end up getting more urban run off and more agricultural run off plus as people clear land for development that really does effect water flow and water quality in local water sheds. That's not rosy thinking or "idealizing the past" and instead that's just reality.

As you can see I took the thread title from the Fox News article so please do shove it up your ass. Also, your rep whining is unbecoming.

On a rare positive note recently California Sea Otters have been spotted off the coast in San Diego for the first time in nearly a century.

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/may/07/another-sea-otter-spotted-san-diego/
http://www.cbs8.com/story/15661467/rare-sea-ot

Wild California Condors are also occasionally seen here. They were released in Baja but have been expanding their zone up into Southern California.

http://gocalifornia.about.com/od/cabigsurmenu/a/condor-watch.htm

I also previously mentioned this is the southern most range of the endangered California Golden Beaver.

Sadly, the river otters were all hunted to extinction locally a long time ago so none of those are left here. The same thing happened to the black bears, the brown bears, the jaguar, and the wolf. We still do have some mountain lions though they tend to get killed quickly either by cars or by fish & game wardens when they wander into someone's backyard.

"We poison our air and water to weed out the weak! We set off fission bombs in our only biosphere! We nailed our god to a stick! Don't fuck with the human race!"

Ah, vulgarity and insults. The refuge of those who have no answer.

You can't blame it on Fox News. You are the one who said "Sad but true." Trying to backpedal now just makes it look like you are admitting you deliberately midled people.

You're just sad because you're so predictable.

*sigh*

Water quality isn't a partisan issue.

No, your nonsense deserves vulgarity and insults because, once again, you're being a complete idiot. I know you're used to it and all but I still feel compelled to point it out. I cribbed the title from the Fox News article, the one which the thread is about and the one which was clearly quoted in the OP. You're just desperately trying to come up with something to bitch about just like you're desperately trying to claim you weren't rep whining. It's true so, once again, if I may repeat myself, please feel free to take your usual nonsense and stick it up your fat, flabby, elder ass. You earned that, man, so enjoy it.

Sadly, it is. Almost all the time it is. Almost all the time it is the Republicans standing up for the polluters and denigrating the desires of the people while they cash the bribe checks from the polluters. Sure, the Democrats are also corrupt albeit on different issues and to a far smaller degree partially because they haven't found as many willing bribers as the Republicans have but it is ALWAYS, I repeat, ALWAYS Republicans who are trying to "water down" (pun intended) the clean water act, the clean air act, and virtually every pollution control regulation ever invented. To compare every once in a while the Dems come up with a new regulatory act which actually makes things better and generally they're against watering the existing regulations down even if it is only because no one has reached their bribe price yet.

So, yes, in reality... Water quality is very much a partisan issue.

This brings up an interesting side topic.

We know, basically, how superheroes like Spiderman and Green Lantern got their powers. Now take that idea, and think about what would happen if say, a fish or a boar happened to run into this same accident and acquired these same powers. What would a fish do with spidey sense and webs shot from its fins? What would Mr. Boar do with a Green Lantern ring?

Discuss!

The more I reread Asyn's nonsense posts the more he makes me want to quote my Scottish grandmother "You're just havering now."

Seriously, dude, you're just havering.

What colour is the... water on your planet?

Indeed, Confederate Son must be in exile from his utopian planet where the beer flows like wine, there is no crime, no pollution, no guns (duh) 16,000 different ethnic groups all singing Kumbaya, and cake. Lots of cake, but everyone is thin as a heroin addicted supermodel.

Him not being a native son is the only reason we haven't elected him President yet.