Water shortages in 36 states within 5 years
From a hot off the press AP article:
The government projects that at least 36 states will face water shortages within five years because of a combination of rising temperatures, drought, population growth, urban sprawl, waste and excess."Is it a crisis? If we don't do some decent water planning, it could be," said Jack Hoffbuhr, executive director of the Denver-based American Water Works Association.
According to experts, some significant steps will need to be taken to address the shortages, and it will cost lots of money:
"We've hit a remarkable moment," said Barry Nelson, a senior policy analyst with the Natural Resources Defense Council. "The last century was the century of water engineering. The next century is going to have to be the century of water efficiency."The price tag for ensuring a reliable water supply could be staggering. Experts estimate that just upgrading pipes to handle new supplies could cost the nation $300 billion over 30 years.
"Unfortunately, there's just not going to be any more cheap water," said Randy Brown, Pompano Beach's utilities director.
That sounds like a lot of money. And it is. But think of it this way - it's, what, about the same cost as a year in Iraq? So at least it's not as staggeringly, stupidly expensive as Bush's occupation of Iraq. Plus, we've got some time honored methods for addressing such costs. We'll just sprinkle a couple of tax cuts on them. Problem solved. Next! Next!
Comments
We as a nation have become pretty soft--physically, morally, and spiritually...we are no longer used to the sacrifice we once made as America's pioneers. Now, we're just a nation of skeptics. But the problem with skepticism is that we are so busy pooh-poohing EVERYone's ideas--yet not committing to ANY! The result is IN-action. Unless there's commitment TO action--being PRO-active in improving our country, we've become irresponsible and lazy, feeling entitled to get our OWN needs met--even at our OWN expense in the end! And we call ourselves civilized?! How crazy is that?! If we keep this up, every single one of our problems WILL soon end--when we all perish! Let's all quit complaining & pointing fingers--what's it going to take? We're clearly running OUT of time!
Posted by: Gwen B. | October 27, 2007 9:55 PM