Give Credit for What Works--a Lot

Americans have always been skeptical of government. Since the founding of the republic, healthy skepticism has helped to keep government at all levels accountable to the American people. But for much of our history, we have balanced our skepticism with confidence in government’s capacity to help us improve the quality of life.

It is not often that the CEO of an international energy company and the head of a national nonprofit organization focused on environmental protection can agree publicly on a matter of real significance. However, we are united in our shared belief that government has earned the right to enjoy Americans’ confidence. From construction of roads and canals in the early 1800s to the GI Bill and the Internet in this century, our history sparkles with examples of government initiatives that have improved the lives and widened the horizons of countless Americans.

In the last 25 years, though, skepticism about government has been turning into cynicism. A steady barrage of negative news and anti-government political rhetoric has tended to obscure government’s substantial contribution to our well-being. Public confidence in government has taken a beating. This is not good for any system of government.

It is especially troubling for a democracy. We believe it’s time for a reassessment. That is why we’re joining a cross-section of national leaders and organizations, including industry, labor, civic and nonprofit groups, that are launching the Partnership for Trust in Government.

Some of what government provides is as fundamental as the quality of the air we breathe or the water we drink. For example, when we started the Natural Resources Defense Council more than 25 years ago, swimming or fishing was safe in only about one-third of American waters, and sewage treatment plants served no more than 85 million people--far less than half of the population.

Today, a quarter of a century after the enactment of the federal Clean Water Act, two-thirds of America’s surveyed waters are safe for fishing and swimming, and modern waste water treatment plants serve 173 million people, more than double the earlier number.

Other similar examples abound. Thirty years ago, public concern over air pollution prompted California to establish the toughest air quality program in the country. Today, residents of the Los Angeles Basin, where smog was virtually invented, are breathing the cleanest air in decades.

Or consider the Consortium for Energy Efficiency, which brings together electric and gas utilities, public interest groups and state energy offices in an effort to expand markets for energy efficient technologies. One of its recent successes was a clothes washer project supported by 29 electric, gas and water utilities, which led to the new generation of superefficient washers that use 50% less energy and 30% less water per load.

The consortium, of which the Natural Resources Defense Council and Southern California Edison are both founding members and current directors, illustrates the benefits of collaboration between federal, state and local government, often in partnership with the private sector.

Edison is partnering with the U.S. Department of Energy to develop new electrotechnologies, among them solar-thermal and photovoltaic power generation and fuel-cell applications. These technologies promise to provide economical sources of clean power in the next century.

The Energy Department is also helping Edison underwrite a demonstration project that will lead to greater efficiency, reduced costs and dramatic reductions in emissions and waste byproducts in the energy-intensive aluminum recycling industry.

Constructive government initiatives like these rarely make headlines. But they will continue to improve our lives and those of our children long after the negative news of the moment is forgotten.

Don’t get us wrong. We don’t discount the importance of reports of public-sector failures. But we take issue with those who jump to the easy conclusion that failure is the hallmark of American government. Failure is simply part of the mix in the public sector, just as it is in the private sector. We need to learn from our failures in both sectors, but we also need to learn from and celebrate our successes.

The lesson of the public sector’s successes in the last half of this century is that government has the capacity to address critical issues that affect the quality of our lives, especially when it leverages its resources with the creativity of the private sector. We should take this lesson forward with us into the 21st Century.