Ghostwritten Op-Ed

 

Title: When Access to Clean Water Defines a Nation’s Future
Ghostwritten for an environmental nonprofit director

 

Byline: By Elena Marquez, Executive Director, Project Blue

 

For too long, we’ve treated clean drinking water as a given — an endless resource that flows without thought from every faucet. But in communities across this country, that illusion has shattered.

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I have walked into kitchens where the tap water smells of metal. I have met parents who ration bottled water for their children while they themselves drink from contaminated pipes. And I have read the state reports that confirm what they already know: their water is unsafe.

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The consequences are not abstract. They are measured in hospital visits, missed school days, and long-term health damage that no filter can erase. Lead poisoning in children is irreversible — and yet in six rural counties in our state, the response has been delay after delay.

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Here is the truth: clean water is not just an environmental issue. It is a public health issue, an economic issue, and a moral issue. Without it, businesses cannot thrive, children cannot learn, and families cannot remain in the towns they have called home for generations.

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The solutions exist. The technology exists. The funding — through federal infrastructure programs and private partnerships — exists. What we lack is the political will to act with urgency.

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At Project Blue, we are replacing outdated pipes, holding polluters accountable, and delivering emergency water to the most affected households. But no nonprofit can solve this alone. We need legislation that mandates faster repair timelines, stricter penalties for contamination, and a permanent fund for rural water infrastructure.

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In the coming months, we will push for a Clean Water Justice Bill — and we will need your voice. Call your legislators. Sign our petition. Show up to your city council meetings. Every action matters, because the longer we wait, the more lives are impacted.

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Clean water is not a privilege. It is a right. And our future — our health, our economy, our dignity — depends on whether we choose to protect it now.