Water

Even the Rainwater Does Not Belong to Us

February 28, 2011

Yesterday I just saw an excellent Spanish film about water rights in Bolivia, “También la Lluvia” (Even the Rain). This engaging movie was directed by Icíar Bollaín, and it raises many complex issues about exploitation, imperialism, human rights, religion and access to clean water. The story follows a filmmaker, played by Gael García Bernal, who brings a film crew to Bolivia to shoot a movie about Spanish imperialism and the enslavement of the indigenous people. Bernal and his crew arrive…

Does California Need Oil or Water More?

December 20, 2010

Getting oil out of the ground requires water. And as oil supplies are depleted, this process requires more and more water. It turns out that nowadays oil companies are using a TON of water,.. (to access precious oil for our gas-guzzling cars). “Oil companies are grabbing an increasing share of the water in California’s Central Valley. Last year, oil companies took 83% of the district’s water allocation, according to new data published by High Country News,” Susan Kraemer of our sister…

Philadelphia’s “Green City, Clean Waters” Plan Creates a New Sustainable Infrastructure

December 12, 2010

Devastating gas pipe explosions and bridge collapses are painful examples of how our nation’s infrastructure is rapidly crumbling. There is, however, some reason to be optimistic about how we can actually fix these problems. A few municipalities are now using the opportunity to rebuild their decaying infrastructure in a new way, choosing solutions that are not only more sustainable, but also more affordable.

Mexican Caravan for Life and Environmental Justice Day 1: A Dying River

December 4, 2010

“Along the way you will be witness to what I have witnessed my whole life, some of the worst realities in Mexico,” said one member of National Assembly of People Affected by the Environment (Asamblea Nacional de Afectados Ambientales–ANAA). This perhaps set the tone for an itinerary that is not likely to be offered by any travel agency. We were introduced to one such harsh reality in El Salto, a small pueblo 20 miles outside of Guadalajara in the state…

Mother of Many Rain Gardens

November 10, 2010

Rain gardens have a strong and growing reputation among environmental advocates and some local governments as a cost-effective, successful method of beautifying communities and reducing water pollution. What are the rain garden facts most important for both types of communities to know? We asked Patricia Pennell, a leading rain garden advocate, to help us answer that. Key points: There is a 15-year body of evidence demonstrating conclusively that rain gardens are more effective than traditional stormwater management methods in preventing…

1st Prize for the Protection of the Environment Goes to Friends of the Earth Middle East

November 10, 2010

OK, to clarify, the inaugural Prize for the Protection of the Environment from the Aristotle Onassis Public Benefit Foundation has been awarded to Friends of the Earth Middle East (FoEME)…. (I’m sure there are numerous other “environmental protection prizes” out there.) FoEME has a long history of working to protect the Jordan River and helping communities in Israel, Palestine and Jordan to use it sustainably and efficiently. This is a critical issue in the region and is expected to become more…

Children’s Book Links People and Wildlife to the Gulf

November 8, 2010

If someone asked you about the Gulf of Mexico environment today, what would come to your thoughts first? Probably the massive BP oil spill. But in her new children’s book Salty Seas and His Heroic Friends, Louisianan Lynda Deniger informs young people and reminds adults of the bountiful natural resources and enduring way of life that preceded the spill and will endure decades after it is a piece of history. A hit with teachers and young audiences in the Gulf…

Yemen’s Capital Out of Water by 2025?

November 2, 2010

I think the biggest topic of the following century might just be water. From the effect global weirding is having on water to our unsustainable pumping of groundwater to water pollution from agriculture, factories, and transportation, water is a growing concern. Recent news that Yemen’s capital, Sana’a, might be out of water by 2025 is not a completely unique case, I think, but an indicator of things to come. And if you haven’t considered how important water is to our…

Bioneers 2010: Dispatch from an Earth Community Movement

October 19, 2010

Once again, the 3-day Bioneers mother-ship has landed and departed, and a thousand pods of social and environmental change have dispersed across the globe, refreshed and re-energized. Or to use the less technological metaphor by Janine Benyus, founder of the Biomimicry Institute, “This is kind of a seasonal migration ceremony, Bioneers. If we were migrating birds, this would be our staging ground, where we come and talk about what we have hatched this year and what breeding was like.” The…

B.A.D. Posts from Important Media

October 18, 2010

As most of you know, last Friday was Blog Action Day (B.A.D.), where bloggers across the Internet pull together to raise awareness about one issue. This year’s topic was water, which is important in so many different ways. Several sites on the Important Media network participated, so we thought it might be good to round up all of the posts from across the network in an Important Media Blog Action Day Carnival! Here are the posts, grouped by site. Clean Technica…

Ecolocalizer Live Tweeting From the Bioneers Conference

October 15, 2010

Ecolocalizer is at Bioneers! I’m live tweeting from the Bioneers Conference in San Rafael, CA all weekend. You can follow along at @Ecolocalizer or get the ecolocalizer Twitter widget Box. Founder Kenny Ausubel coined the word bioneers in 1990 to describe “an emerging culture of social and scientific innovators who are mimicking nature’s operating instructions to serve human ends while enriching the web of life.” Of course I’ll be following up with a report back of the most inspiring and…

Taking Back the Tap: One Oregon County Shuns the Bottle

October 15, 2010

“Buying bottled water is more expensive than buying gas,” says Commissioner Barbara Willer of the Multnomah County Board in Oregon. Willer joined the other commissioners in a unanimous decision to ban the purchase of bottled water with county funds, making Multnomah County the first county in Oregon to do so. Going forward, the county will serve water from the tap at county functions and promote the use of reusable metal water bottles. This is all around great news. Not only…

Water Mining and Global Warming Making Sea Levels Rise

October 15, 2010

This post is part of our participation in Blog Action Day 2010, which is on the topic of Water. We are all familiar with the fact that as our world warms, ice in the North and South melt and cause sea levels to rise. But there is another major factor causing sea level rise as well — water mining. What is Water Mining? Water mining is the pumping of large amounts of water from non-replenishing groundwater (also called fossil water)…

Wyoming Forces Full Disclosure of Fracking Chemicals

October 8, 2010

Wyoming is not the sort of place that one generally thinks of as a leader in environmental activism. Besides being a rabidly conservative state, that also spawned Dick Cheney, recently its tax department actually temporarily suspended levies at gun shows for fear of inciting an angry armed insurrection from the populace. Despite all of this, Wyoming has just become the first state in the nation to enact regulations which now force petroleum companies to disclose all of the toxic compounds…