Along the water today, the political scientist Nicole Bacharan, specialist of the United States. In 2016, the contaminated water scandal in Flint, Michigan, highlighted the dilapidated state of water supply systems in the United States. Joe Biden has pledged colossal investments to renovate facilities and build new supply systems.
Drinking water problems generally affect poor countries, but in the United States, the world’s largest economy, more than 2.5 million Americans do not have access to running water.
The division of responsibilities between local and federal authorities is not working.
Nicole Bacharan, specialist in the United States
No one wants to take the initiative to monitor the condition of the pipes or the quality of the water. No one wants to make the investments necessary to rehabilitate infrastructure. Most states are not allowed to have deficit budgets, so they take no chances to improve the condition of public infrastructure.
Barack Obama had a major infrastructure rehabilitation plan, but he failed to impose it. Donald Trump also had a big project, but he didn’t manage to put it in place either. Today, Joe Biden arrives with a considerable plan, both in terms of infrastructure to renovate, but also in terms of standards to be respected. In this area, Donald Trump has completely abandoned the concept of standards for toxic industrial discharges into the air and water. You should know that Americans who can afford it buy bottled water to drink, but also to cook.
It is absolutely necessary to have federal control and specifications imposed on local authorities on the quality of water and its supply.
Nicole bacharan
We also need public agencies, federal and local, to listen to what Americans are saying. The population is fully aware of the problems that arise with the taste of water, which is always a first warning, but also with recurring medical problems.
Among the decrees that Joe Biden has signed as a priority since his inauguration, there is one that concerns non-discrimination according to ethnic origins or sexual orientation for access to drinking water. He entrusted a mission in this direction to Suzan Rice (who heads the domestic policy council at the White House). In the United States, it is generally the poorest communities that suffer from the most deficient infrastructure.
