Florida may charge bottlers for water
Gov. Charlie Crist wants Florida’s water bottlers to start paying for the water they pump from aquifers in the state, The Miami Herald reports.
Outside the rural north Florida town of Lee, “every day, Nestle Waters of North America sucks up an estimated 500,000 gallons from Madison Blue Springs,” the paper says. You probably know it as Deer Park.
The company paid a one-time permit fee of $150. It’s one of 23 water bottlers in the state that doesn’t pay for their water, the Herald reports. Now Crist and some state lawmakers want to charge 6 cents a gallon.
That would translate to $56 million in the first year alone, money that would fund state water projects.
The bottlers are crying foul….
via Florida may charge bottlers for water – On Deadline – USATODAY.com.
Those suckers are operating one of the highest-profit businesses in the country, selling water that they get for free for more than the cost of gasoline. Let’s charge ‘em 60 cents a gallon, and get this ridiculous bottled water craze under some kind of control.
Talk about an environmental nightmare! In addition to the packaging, water weighs 2 lbs. per quart. Just imagine the fuel that is wasted moving water from one place to another! And it’s been proven that it’s no cleaner nor purer than city water. What a crock!
Not since the SUV has there been a more effective and totally bogus advertising triumph. Americans are so gullible.
