Proportion

According to a story on the weather channel this morning, almost 780 million people get up every morning, knowing they will be drinking, washing and cooking with dirty water.  We only take heed of these figures when a spectacular accident like the one which polluted the water which is used by 300,000 people in W. Virginia forces itself onto the national conscience.  We may have to get used to such headlines in years to come.   California and the west coast are cruising into the worst drought since record keeping began in the 1800's.  The great lakes are losing water to evaporation and lack of precipitation.  Wild swings in weather are also affecting other areas of the country and highlighting the huge role water plays in our national health.   I could go off in a rant about how we take this resource for granted, or how we are ignoring the signals the climate is sending us.  What is even more disheartening is the lack of a serious national conversation about this problem.  The right wing obsesses about Obamacare and its chief architect, while the left pursues Chris Christie and his merry men.  When will people take real problems and deal with them instead of sharpening their ideological knives.   If the weather channel is our best hope for debate on this problem, we are well and truly screwed.