| That idea from a couple of years back has returned ... charging water bottlers a fee for each bottle of groundwater bottlers sell. At the time, the idea was mildly controversial among environmentalists who were afraid that charging bottlers a fee for each bottle of someone else's property they sell would legitimize the transaction, the privatization of a commonly held resource. It's an interesting, cogent argument worth chewing over if you're the kind of person who chews those things over, but it's probably not terribly practical. The practice appears to me to have been given legitimacy based on the fact that it's been going on for years. It seems entirely reasonable that if we don't plan to put a halt to it, that the actual owners of the water -- the people of Michigan -- should stand to benefit somehow beyond the handful of jobs created. As for what to do with the proceeds of the sale, John Cherry recommends restoring the Michigan Promise. By charging water bottlers 10 cents on each bottle of water they pull from Michigan waterways, the state could raise $118 million a year, Cherry said. That would cover the $100 million needed for the Promise Scholarship and leave another $18 million for wetlands protection, he said.
I myself think we could just do away with the Michigan Promise by showing some seriousness in our future by appropriating more money from the general fund for our colleges and universities. That way, we all share the burden, which seems only appropriate since all of us would benefit directly from a better educated populace. Then again, I'm just communist enough to think that we should do something about climate change. |
