Water quality sucked. At least in the post-WW2 era, when America thought its resources were endless, and that it could just crap all over the place with no recourse.
Mercifully, somebody finally took notice and started regulating the pigs.
One of the many regs that hit was the Water Quality Improvement Act of 1970, which gave the U.S. federal government more room to lay down the law (and created more laws, i.e. provisions) in terms of water pollution. The main issue was oil contaminating water, which was creating negative externalities from firms to humans, marine life, and other wildlife. See the more modern BP Oil Spill for details.
Fun fact: Politicos knew we had slob issues ages ago; they just didn't do much about it. Anemic laws started to come into existence as early as the 19th century, with an 1886 edict that created the River and Harbor Act. They were before their time.
Related or Semi-related Video
Finance: What is the Free Rider Problem?10 Views
finance a la shmoop. what is the free rider problem? free rider not Easy Rider
but a great film ask your parents about it and go watch it someday.
alright and if there was any confusion this video is not about ebikes either. [kid holds up VHS in a movie rental store]
you know those battery-powered bikes? okay so you're a tax derelict. you hate
paying taxes so much you just don't. but then North Korea sends over a nuke.
well it's about ten miles off the coast just about to make you glow in the dark
forever, when one of our homing robot defense missiles shoots out the belly of
a nuclear sub, and blows that nuke from North Korea all the smithereen. thank you
very much. so now the country is safe not so much North Korea but that's a
different story. well you didn't want to pay your taxes. [missile flies through the air]
you didn't want to fund that sub or the brave sailors in it or the homing drone
or the myriad other fancy tech things that powered it. you deadbeat tax non
payer that you are, you wanted a free ride. a free ride on everyone else's hard
earned money that they paid taxes on. all right so how do we avoid this problem
like you? well we have the IRS and they have an army of geeks who make sure you
pay your taxes, so you can't just freeride on the rest of our backs. and if
you don't pay your taxes you face serious jail time and we'll have to end
up paying more than if you just fallin in step and pay your taxes on time along [man is thrown in jail.]
with everyone else. got it all right free-rider problem solved.
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