We’ve watched with horror as the residents of Flint, Mich., turn on the tap and find toxic, lead-filled water pouring out and potentially causing a public health disaster. One mother was told, “It’s not so bad. Your child will just lose a few points from her IQ.”
Flint’s water crisis is a direct result of seeing a public necessity—clean drinking water—as just another line item in a budget, a municipal function that small-government Republicans love to eliminate because they believe private corporations can manage schools, public works projects and health care better than government can.
That same attitude is evident in the new proposal winging its way through the Wisconsin Legislature that would make it easier for publicly owned water systems to be privatized.
No one has clamored for this bill except for Aqua America, Inc., headquartered in Bryn Mawr, Penn., which sees Wisconsin’s valuable water systems as a major profit center. Republicans are jumping on board, either because they hate the government they have vowed to serve or because they need a new source of campaign donations.
We urge the state Senate to reject this bill and instead support the Save Our Water Act, authored by state Sen. Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee), Rep. Amanda Stuck (D-Appleton) and Rep. Jonathan Brostoff (D-Milwaukee), which would prohibit the sale of our water and sewer systems to a for-profit corporation.
We can’t experiment with our precious water supply. Take a look at what’s happening in Flint and ask yourself if you’d like the same foul and dangerous water flowing into your kitchen and potentially harming your children. There’s no reason to privatize our water system other than greed.
