This is What Happens in a Regulation-Free World

I don't enjoy saying, "I told you so." Really I don't. (OK, I did enjoy saying that when I was a kid, but now it just makes me mad.)

As CNN reports, water has finally started flowing again in some West Virginia households, four days after chemical contamination left more than a quarter-million people without water for drinking, washing, cooking, brushing teeth, or bathing. The chemical responsible is using for washing coal, and was being stored at a facility upriver from Charleston, the state's largest city.

A key problem is that, as reported in today's New York Times by Coral Davenport and Ashley Southall, "the site of the spill has not been subject to a state or federal inspection since 1991. West Virginia law does not require inspections for chemical storage facilities — only for production facilities." (Full article, here)

I mean, really? Not since 1991??

The reporters note, "Critics say the problems are widespread in a state where the coal and chemical industries, which drive much of West Virginia’s economy and are powerful forces in the state’s politics, have long pushed back against tight federal health, safety and environmental controls."

It's an article of faith with many conservatives that "The Market" is much better at supervising industry than is Government. More efficient, less expensive, they say.

My faith lies with Trust and Transparency. And a big helping of regulation. What I call: Trust but Verify (old post on the subject, here). As to "less expensive" -- well, I'd ask Charleston residents what they think is the value of four days without drinkable water from their taps.