Unquenchable?

Leading US legal scholar Robert Glennon is currently touring to promote his latest book, a factual study which is being taken so seriously that he is getting air time on some of the highest-rating shows in America – including Jon Stewart’s Daily Show which has had such guests in the last year as the then Senator Barack Obama, the former President Bill Clinton and father of the US political chat show Larry King. Robert Glennon’s issue is linked to one hugely important part of everyone’s life – water. Quite simply, the message goes, America is wasting water. And it’s not just America, either. There are water crises in Asia, parts of Europe and in Africa too. The very real danger is that if people living in countries with what should be a plentiful supply of water don’t stop wasting what they have, then our future could be looking dangerously dry.

Robert Glennon’s book, Unquenchable, is the story of how America is wasting water in ways which are in some cases breathtakingly wasteful and in others seemingly well-intentioned. Witness how the energy lobby in Washington are pushing for the greater use of biofuels, and then consider that to make one gallon of biofuel is said to cost thousands of gallons of water. According to Robert Glennon, America simply does not have that kind of water to give away. It may seem like America, Europe and other areas with a similarly rainy climate are at little risk from drought, but if the current reckless overuse of water continues there could be some damage done that will not be undone in a hurry. We may well find that scarcity will lead to some extremely negative repercussions.

In Africa and parts of sub continental Asia we have seen the results of major drought, as crops wither and die leading to serious famine. The water crisis we are currently seeing – albeit in a very limited way – has the potential to change the face of the world as we know it for the worse, and it is not just Robert Glennon who believes this. It needs to be taken into account now that without government attention and innovative thinking in countries where ready alternatives exist, we will be looking not at a potential crisis, but some years down the line at a financial crisis in some parts of the world and a humanitarian one elsewhere.

It is all the more telling that as America faces up to a real crisis, one nation in a position of relative strength right now is its neighbor to the north, Canada. Currently sitting on around 10% of the world’s water, Canada will feature very prominently in discussions the longer this situation perpetuates itself. It is to be hoped that things will not get so far that Canada is required to help out with America’s water crisis – but with the crises developing elsewhere it must be recognised that the old adage “water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink” has never been more appropriate.

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There Is Work To Be Done

For environmentalists who look to the world’s established economies and governments to provide a positive lead on global warming, the news emanating from the World Wildlife Fund’s research looks gloomy, it has to be said. The news which has emerged this week is that none of the G8 – the group of eight nations which between them set the trends for much of the world to follow – has managed to do enough to curb global warming. Even worse news comes for the North American green movement with the revelation that sitting in spots seven and eight are the United States and Canada respectively. With this year seen as a pivotal moment in time for the purpose of reversing the global environmental trend, the outlook is decidedly frosty.

It cannot be doubted that Canada will feel it has the most to be embarrassed about. Although the United States recently elected Barack Obama to the presidency after eight years of the hugely Enviroskeptic leadership of George W Bush, President Obama has had less than half a year to turn things around, and Canada’s fall has as much to do with a shortfall of work on the part of the government to ensure that it is meeting its targets. With five months to go until the G8 leaders meet in Copenhagen, Denmark seeking to agree a new deal to replace the embattled Kyoto protocols of 1997, Stephen Harper’s government has not implemented a plan to curb emissions. According to the WWF, Canada is some distance off meeting its Kyoto agreements.

Although President Obama can feel personally proud that the report praised his efforts to prioritize cleaner, greener energy, he may reflect on the report’s conclusion that per capita emissions in the US are among the world’s highest and projected to increase. Pointedly the report mentioned that the Obama presidency had led to more action in the States in the last four months than in the previous three decades, adding that this trend “will hopefully continue”. A qualified thumbs up for Mr Obama, then, with the caveat that his actions will continue to be monitored. He may be invited to start by taking action to limit the future temperature rise for the United States to a level two degrees Celsius above the levels pre 1900, action he is yet to take.

If Canada and the US are bottom of a poor grade, then the lukewarm congratulations must go to Germany and the United Kingdom. Both nations recently gave an improved share of the vote to their respective Green parties, but the real headline news for each is that Germany has promoted renewable energy and set a target of a 40% cut in greenhouse gases by 2020. The absence of clear implementation plans prevented them from getting full marks, while the United Kingdom’s success in not only meeting but surpassing its targets came with a small cloud attached in the shape of its markedly non-green record in transport. There remains work to be done between now and the Copenhagen meeting.

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