water

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 16, 2009
2:00 PM

CONTACT: Food & Water Watch
Kate Fried (202) 683-2500

Cap-and-Trade for Water: A Bad Idea for People and the Planet

Statement from Wenonah Hauter, Food & Water Watch Executive Director, and Maude Barlow, Senior Advisor on Water to the President of the UN General Assembly

WASHINGTON - April 16 - "Yesterday, the CEO of Climate Exchange PLC trotted out the incredibly bad idea to, essentially, apply the flawed model of carbon cap-and-trade markets to water. The head of the UK-based company that made millions of dollars last year from its business facilitating carbon trading wants to take this scheme that has failed to reduce emissions of climate changing carbon gas and apply it to water extraction rights from the Great Lakes, according to an interview titled, 'Water cap and trade,' posted yesterday on Global Dashboard: Notes from the Future.

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Food & Water Watch is a nonprofit consumer organization that works to ensure clean water and safe food. We challenge the corporate control and abuse of our food and water resources by empowering people to take action and by transforming the public consciousness about what we eat and drink.

Food & Water Watch Links:

Posted in water

Food Rebellions: 7 Steps to Solving the Food Crisis

The World Food Program describes the current global food crisis as a silent tsunami, with billions of people going hungry. Hunger is, indeed, coming in waves, but not everyone will drown in famine. The recurrent food crises are making a handful of corporations very rich-even as they put the rest of the planet at risk.

Posted in agriculture, farming, food crisis, water

Across the United States, Waters in Crisis

WASHINGTON - Over the last years, up to 60 percent of lakes, rivers, streams, and drinking water sources across the United States have lost crucial environmental protections at the hands of polluters, developers, and the U.S. Supreme Court.

"Without immediate action in Congress, a generation of progress in cleaning up our nation's waters may be lost," says a new report by seven U.S.-based environmental advocacy groups.

Posted in water, water quality

Agency Opposes Water Recycling at Homes

In Las Vegas, water used indoors travels a continuous loop.

From homes, water flows to a treatment plant, which sends it back to Lake Mead. Then an equivalent amount is pumped from the lake, and the 12-mile journey to treatment plants and Southern Nevada's taps begins again.

The Southern Nevada Water Authority wants that system preserved because it allows Las Vegas to consume more than its annual 300,000-acre-foot allotment from the Colorado River. Water returned to the lake converts to credits that the Water Authority can use to pump more water from the lake.

Posted in conservation, Environment, water

Where the Poor Pay More for Water

LOMAS DE MANCHAY, Peru - In Lomas de Manchay, an area of slum-covered hills outside of the Peruvian capital that is home to 50,000 people, mainly poor indigenous migrants from the highlands, clean water is worth gold - almost literally.

Local residents of the shantytown pay 3.22 dollars per cubic metre of water, compared to just 45 cents of a dollar that is paid a few blocks away, across the main avenue, in Rinconada del Lago, one of Lima's most exclusive neighbourhoods.

Posted in inequality, water, Peru

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 2, 2009
12:51 PM

CONTACT: US Senator Russ Feingold
Zach Lowe (202) 224-8657

Feingold Reintroduces Effort to Protect the Drinking Water of Over 100 Million Americans

Only Congressional Action Can Stop Roll Back of Clean Water Act

WASHINGTON - April 2 - U.S.

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Posted in conservation, water, water quality

Blue Gold: Have the Next Resource Wars Begun?

It has often been said that water is "blue gold" and the next resource wars will be fought, not over oil, but over water. Maude Barlow, senior advisor to the United Nations on water issues, wrote that the way in which we view water "will in large part determine whether our future is peaceful or perilous."

Posted in water

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 25, 2009
4:43 PM

CONTACT: Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
Erin Allweiss, 202-513-6254 or cell: 202-277-8370;
Monty Schmitt, 415-875-6100

Historic Lands Bill Will Restore Water Flow and Salmon to San Joaquin River

Congress Passes Package That Will Protect America's Land, Water and Rivers

WASHINGTON - March 25 - The U.S. House of Representatives today passed an omnibus public lands package, which includes a landmark settlement to restore water and salmon populations to California’s San Joaquin River. This vote will send a bill to the president’s desk that provides the additional authority and funding needed to restore runs of thousands of salmon each year.

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The Natural Resources Defense Council is a national, nonprofit organization of scientists, lawyers and environmental specialists dedicated to protecting public health and the environment. Founded in 1970, NRDC has 1.2 million members and online activists, served from offices in New York, Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Beijing.

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) Links:

Posted in conservation, Environment, water

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 25, 2009
1:30 PM

CONTACT: Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER)
Jerry Phillips (850) 877-8097; Luke Eshleman (202) 265-7337

Lake Okeechobee Flow Cutoff Looms

Lee County Decries Drinking Water Woes and Caloosahatchee Salinity

WASHINGTON - March 25 - Lee County is bitterly protesting a proposed cutoff of the water from Lake Okeechobee into the Caloosahatchee River and Estuary, citing loss of drinking water supplies, a rise in salinity and harm to its tourist industry, according to correspondence released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). The fight pits agricultural users against wildlife and urban demand, as South Florida's water supplies and quality situation continue to deteriorate.

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Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) is a national alliance of local state and federal resource professionals. PEER's environmental work is solely directed by the needs of its members. As a consequence, we have the distinct honor of serving resource professionals who daily cast profiles in courage in cubicles across the country.

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) Links:

Posted in conservation, Environment, water, water quality

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 25, 2009
10:56 AM

CONTACT: Water Advocates
John Sauer, Water Advocates
(202) 293-4003

Dear Secretary Clinton: 'Women of the World Need Safe Water'

WASHINGTON - March 25 - In an unprecedented letter of concern to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, prominent women have urged enhanced U.S. leadership to reduce the burden on women from inadequate drinking water and sanitation in developing countries. The Secretary of State received the letter between International Women's Day (March 8) and World Water Day (March 22) to emphasize this critical linkage.

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Water Advocates is the first US-based nonprofit organization dedicated solely to increasing American support for worldwide access to safe, affordable and sustainable supplies of drinking water and adequate sanitation.

Water Advocates Links:

Posted in water, women's rights

CommonDreams.org