Water Wars
Nice article about water usage throughout the world that suggests that intelligent and responsible pricing of water would end up benefiting the world's poor, contrary to first impressions. By charging for water, it would reduce over-consumption and generate revenue that could be used to run water to those who need it. It was refreshing to hear Michael Specter's attitude about privatization:
I am not one of those who believe that there is any moral issue here. Privatization is neither good nor bad; it’s a question of who profits and what people pay. If a private company could take over the water system of Delhi (or any other city), fix the pipes, and deliver water at an affordable price, why is that worse than letting a government control the water when it has proved incapable of doing the job properly?This kind of common sense is essential to developing policy these days. Absolutist ideas that privatization is inherently good or bad are useless and pragmatic approaches are the only way to find success. Otherwise we just end up bouncing between two extremes, which are unsustainable by definition. If we do have major water wars, I wonder how genocidal they will be. It almost seems that if someone is using water in a way that impacts you enough that you are willing to go to war for it, the solution would lie in exterminating them, or at least running them away from the water which would probably have the same effect. Water is actually one of the core issues in the Palestinian conflict in Israel that doesn't seem to get much attention. If they ever come to terms with the physical land agreements and what to do about refugees, water use is bound to be a sticking point in any peace deal. Oil and water, they don't mix, but if we don't learn to use them correctly, they are poised to combine to make life pretty rough in the future.