So assuming you are not full of shit and know what you are talking about because you took a community college course and got a nice job, congratulations (the system works).
What you are describing could just be that the old water tank system has been around for a long time and is really well build because the kinks and innovations have had time to develop and get made better. "Green" systems (which use far less continuous resources when in use) are still relatively new and as more people purchase, use, and find the kinks, they too get better and better. That is just how technology works.
Do you disagree that as a culture we have, and still are, dirty AF? Plastic bags, plastic everything, burning stuff to get energy and sending all those pollutants into the air, not telecommuting as much as possible because people have cars and can burn fuel to get to a job, pouring pollution down the drains whenever we clean something, poor farming practices that tear apart the fragile layer of soil that holds the most life on earth....
Cleaning up our ways is not a bad thing.
I think they are someone who is used to being able to just say shit on the job site and people just nodding their head instead of actually checking him because if they did they would have to engage his stupidity.