[Newsbot]

Title: Water as Human Right Threatens to Split World Body
Category: Political
Posted By: Scape
Date: 2010-07-19 06:10:15
Canadian

[Unicornlord]

Water is a natural resource, it belongs to the country that it is in. When countries of the world spend money on it's people rather than it's armies, maybe we won't see famine and death in the developing countries, which of course have been around as long as most others. Dig wells instead of buying tanks, planes and rifles.

[Guy_Fawkes]

Unicornlord Unicornlord:

Water is a natural resource, it belongs to the country that it is in. When countries of the world spend money on it's people rather than it's armies, maybe we won't see famine and death in the developing countries, which of course have been around as long as most others. Dig wells instead of buying tanks, planes and rifles.

Thats all fine and good.... until the countries with the tanks, planes and rifles march across the boarder and take your wells.

[Unicornlord]

That it what the UN and developing countries are for, just have to do the same for them as was done for Kawait. Just need the world to stand up against countries that make war on others.

[Benn]

Guy_Fawkes Guy_Fawkes:

Unicornlord Unicornlord:

Water is a natural resource, it belongs to the country that it is in. When countries of the world spend money on it's people rather than it's armies, maybe we won't see famine and death in the developing countries, which of course have been around as long as most others. Dig wells instead of buying tanks, planes and rifles.

Thats all fine and good.... until the countries with the tanks, planes and rifles march across the boarder and take your wells.

Exactly!

However we have ample ammo to fend them off with water pistols and water ballons

[mikewood86]

A resounding NO, especially until countries and it's people conserve first.

[Guy_Fawkes]

You're pretty naive if you think the UN would send in peacekeepers for stolen water. More likely they would just supply the victims with some relief, which in turn would also get stolen (just not as often).

[martin14]

Such an idea could be interpreted as giving the UN power to seize water

for 'redistribution'.


No thanks.

[CommanderSock]

Interesting.

Would we be singing a different tune if most of the world's drinkable water was sitting in the middle east, africa and latin america? And they weren't interested in playing ball. And we were running out of water for farm irrigation rapidly.

Hmm? Something to ponder about.

[BartSimpson]

Los Angeles and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California would ABSOLUTELY use this to try to force Canada to export water to them. Anyone who says otherwise is totally ignorant of how this near-terrorist agency works and they need either a reality check or a punch in the chops.
Los Angeles is *currently* trying to get BC Hydro to let them build a dam on the Fraser River behind Vancouver with the deal that BC Hydro gets the electricity and LA gets the water via a neoprene aqueduct to be laid down on the ocean floor (yes, this is for real - Palin defeated the LA plan to do this on the Yukon River in Alaska).
Canada absolutely MUST stop this from happening or you WILL have the thugs from Los Angeles demanding that you give them your water.

[DerbyX]

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

Los Angeles and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California would ABSOLUTELY use this to try to force Canada to export water to them. Anyone who says otherwise is totally ignorant of how this near-terrorist agency works and they need either a reality check or a punch in the chops.
Los Angeles is *currently* trying to get BC Hydro to let them build a dam on the Fraser River behind Vancouver with the deal that BC Hydro gets the electricity and LA gets the water via a neoprene aqueduct to be laid down on the ocean floor (yes, this is for real - Palin defeated the LA plan to do this on the Yukon River in Alaska).
Canada absolutely MUST stop this from happening or you WILL have the thugs from Los Angeles demanding that you give them your water.

Why the hell isn't the US investing in desalinization plants? It completely removes any need of foreign water sources and the political problem it poses. In fact developing desalinization is the only real hope for long term water development anywhere since there is a limited amount of fresh water but unlimited sea water.

[uwish]

desalinization is a good idea however, California is already suffering from 'brown outs' and these plants require MASSIVE energy.

[hurley_108]

uwish uwish:

desalinization is a good idea however, California is already suffering from 'brown outs' and these plants require MASSIVE energy.

And the energy comes from coal which causes global warming which further reduces fresh water suplies which requires more desalination.

[BartSimpson]

DerbyX DerbyX:

Why the hell isn't the US investing in desalinization plants? It completely removes any need of foreign water sources and the political problem it poses. In fact developing desalinization is the only real hope for long term water development anywhere since there is a limited amount of fresh water but unlimited sea water.

Because there are too many power-hungry rat ba*tards involved in the politics of land development who see the transport of water as a very effective means of political power. If people desalinated their water then whole layers of political power would be erased.

Think of how the British prohibited the Indians from making their own salt because the control of salt meant political power for Imperial Britain. The same goes with water, if people control their own water then some SOB won't be able to control it and use it to get votes or to make political deals.

The thing with Southern California is that they built the LA Metroplex in a freaking desert so you've got near 30 million people dependent on water from remote sources and those people vote for whoever keeps their lawns green and their swimming pools full. The additional thing is you have layers of government addicted to development money and they're looking at losing some $1 trillion to $2 trillion in tax revenues over the next 50 years unless they can find more water to support new development. But if the use desalinisation instead of transport they lose votes because then water becomes just another utility instead of a precious commodity. So long as water is relatively scarce in LA, the thugs can maintain their political power. Once the genie of desalinisation starts then water becomes plentiful and the power behind it evaporates.

It's about power. And the people in LA don't care who they screw to maintain this power.

[DerbyX]

uwish uwish:

desalinization is a good idea however, California is already suffering from 'brown outs' and these plants require MASSIVE energy.

True. That isn't to say Oregon or Washington can't develop the capacity then sell it to California just like they want us to.

Also, like any technology the more you invest and research the cheaper it becomes and more viable it becomes. I think the US government would be well advised to spend the money in that arena.