Clean Water Act (Part 3): Nixon’s Ghost

U.S. President Richard Nixon, original author of the "War on ______________", turns his sights on America's polluted waterways after being goaded by a large, predatory fish posing as a U.S. Senator - Edmund Muskie. This conflagration of Government Power and 1st-class sportfishing gave rise to the Clean Water Act, and set the tide-mark for the next 50 years of regulatory conflict and collusion among industry and their allies.

Jared and James look at how the Clean Water Act established a limited vision of government oversight, raised unforeseen issues of jurisdiction, and spawned new legions of "content creators". Also, how Nixon and the CWA planted the seeds of destructive neoliberalism - made manifest in wetland mitigation banking, a perfectly reasonable practice that makes lots of sense.

BIO-ETHICS DISCLAIMER: Several pigeons were harmed in the making of this episode.