In my 26 years as a primary care provider, I have witnessed a dramatic shift in the acceptance of vaccinations as a safe tool for disease prevention. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become common for parents and individuals to decline recommended vaccinations. Battling vaccine and other misinformation is a struggle those of us in science-based work are frequently losing. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Could partnering on water protection be the bridge over the river of dispute dividing science and the Make America Healthy Again movement?
Pitting science against MAHA regarding vaccines is akin to two cats in a mud-wrestling match. Neither side will be convinced of the other’s ideals, and both will only come out muddy and more determined than before. So, as scientists and healthcare providers, how do we invite MAHA and wellness influencers into a shared vision for health? As difficult as it is for me to say, we need to set aside more volatile topics, such as vaccines, and begin by partnering in areas where we have shared values, such as protecting and defending our water supply.
The MAHA community developed around concerns about chronic disease, food safety and reducing chemical exposure. MAHA thought it had found a champion for its causes in Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who spent two decades as president of the world’s largest nonprofit focused on clean water. But recently, MAHA has grown disenchanted with RFK Jr. regarding clean water protection.
MAHA is focused on reducing PFAS, or forever chemicals, pesticides and microplastics in U.S. drinking water. But RFK Jr. has been silent in the face of the Environmental Protection Agency rolling back environmental regulations and protections against pesticides and chemicals in public water. As of June, the EPA did not include pharmaceuticals and microplastics as contaminants that can be regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act.
Providing safe drinking water is a constant scientific endeavor; the filtration and disinfection processes are incessantly refined. The scientific community and healthcare providers have historically cared deeply about and defended the need for safe and clean water supplies. Laws such as the Safe Drinking Water Act, which is the primary U.S. federal law ensuring safe drinking water for the public, are supported by a large majority of citizens.
In most American neighborhoods, you can turn on your kitchen tap without ever questioning whether it is safe to give your kids a drink or cook dinner with the water that pours out. We have science alone to thank for that. In contrast, we know the catastrophe that occurs when regulation is not upheld, as in Flint, Michigan.
So, if there is an area of common ground that science and MAHA share, it’s concern for the health and safety of our drinking water. For example, both groups share apprehension regarding data center development and water usage. Data centers put significant strain on rivers and local water supplies and have the potential to pollute water sources with waste runoff. The water sourced for data centers comes from local aquifers and even private wells. Large data centers use an average of 1 million to 5 million gallons of water a day, the same amount as a community of 50,000 people. Data centers also produce pollutants that end up in rivers and water supply sources.
Commonly, this toxic runoff contains chemicals that prevent bacterial growth and corrosion, as well as heavy metals such as lead and PFAS, or forever chemicals. Adding to the concern is that 78% of current and proposed data centers are within two miles of a school.
Many Alaskans are unaware that multiple data center projects are being proposed here. The U.S. Air Force requested to build up to 12 data centers across 4,700 acres at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Eielson Air Force Base and Clear Space Force Station. The state Department of Natural Resources proposed using a 30-square-mile parcel near Houston to build the Mat-Su Borough Industrial Park, which would promote data center development. And on the North Slope, just off the Dalton Highway, a $500 million, 1-square-mile data center is being considered. These projects could have irreversible impacts on local water supplies, as well as on the rivers and waterways that are invaluable for salmon fishing, recreation and the livelihoods of many Alaskans.
If MAHA, scientists and Alaskans can partner in their shared vision of protecting our water sources from data centers, the legislative potential at both regional and national levels could be significant.
Bridging the gap between impassioned groups with well-meaning yet opposite opinions is fraught with failure. It is unlikely that MAHA and healthcare providers are going to come to an agreement anytime soon over vaccinations or other intense debates. But if we can find a way to link arms in just one area, such as the protection of clean water, scientists may, over time, be able to gain the trust of MAHA and wellness individuals and slowly improve childhood vaccine uptake. Or we can continue to repost snarky memes, only further contributing to the chasm between us.
Summer Cutting, RN, MSN, DNP, is a nurse practitioner with 26 years of primary care and clinical dermatology experience at the Alaska Native Medical Center and an American service fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
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