"The world is running out of fresh water," the new book "Blue Gold" by Maude Barlow and Tony Clarke claims. Meanwhile, giant multinational corporations - which the Canadian authors call "water lords" - are busy buying the Earth's fresh water supply and then selling it to the highest bidders, thus depriving the less wealthy of equal access to life's essential liquid.
Looking out over the planet's largest body of water, the Pacific Ocean, I wonder how anyone would dare claim that this globe's finite drinking water is their own, instead of belonging to all of us - humans, plants, and other animals. Instead of sharing this life-giving liquid, some want to profit from it, at the expense of others.
"Everything is now for sale, even those areas of life that were once considered the common heritage of humanity,"
Looking out over the planet's largest body of water, the Pacific Ocean, I wonder how anyone would dare claim that this globe's finite drinking water is their own, instead of belonging to all of us - humans, plants, and other animals. Instead of sharing this life-giving liquid, some want to profit from it, at the expense of others.
"Everything is now for sale, even those areas of life that were once considered the common heritage of humanity,"
the authors note in "Blue Gold," which is sub-titled "The Fight to Stop the Corporate Theft of the World's Water."
"Humanity is polluting, diverting, and depleting the wellspring of life at a startling rate," Barlow and Clarke maintain. Many environmental groups have concluded that "the global fresh water crisis looms as perhaps the greatest threat ever to the survival of our planet."
"Humanity is polluting, diverting, and depleting the wellspring of life at a startling rate," Barlow and Clarke maintain. Many environmental groups have concluded that "the global fresh water crisis looms as perhaps the greatest threat ever to the survival of our planet."