Bill Frank Jr. writes in the Tacoma News Tribune today that innovation is oftentimes the result of regulation to protect human health:

It turns out the standards weren’t too strict after all. The economy did not collapse. The science was right all along. Regulation led to innovations in water treatment that made the new standards possible. We have all benefitted from this kind of forward thinking.

Today we look back and shake our heads in disbelief that anyone would oppose improved water quality. None of us would be willing to give up the improvements to our water and our health that came from the Clean Water Act.

But that’s just what’s happening here in Washington, and polluters are still using those same false arguments to justify their opposition.