Saturday, December 18, 2010

The Great Lakes and Humankind

The Great Lakes and Humankind

Sun, 04/27/2008 - 14:32 — Gary Wilson
At the highest levels, our society operates based on policies – those mission statement type declarations that determine a course of action. Our constitution could be looked at as a policy statement.
How we manage our natural resources also needs guiding policies, including for this region’s abundance of water.
We are fortunate to have in our circle of Great Lakes experts, Dave Dempsey -- author, conservationist, and policy advisor.
Dempsey recently gave a policy speech on our role as stewards of 20% of the Earth’s fresh surface water, the Great Lakes. The speech was timely as we are now debating and considering a document, the Compact, that may guide our water policy for decades, if not centuries.
The venue was Michigan State University’s Alumnus Lecture Series and the presentation was titled:Stewardship of Water in the 21st Century: Our Responsibility as Great Lakes Basin Inhabitants.
This was a substantive talk that should challenge us to think beyond our normally provincial viewpoints. Whatever I could write about the speech wouldn’t do it justice. I’ll instead give you excerpts designed to encourage you to read further. You won’t be disappointed.
But I ask one favor. Reflect on the speech for a few days before coming to conclusions. Dempsey’s comments deserve more than a summary judgment.
Here are some highlights.
On consideration for the people of the world who do not live with the abundance of fresh water that we in the Great Lakes region have.
“I hope my remarks today will be a small curative…..helping you and me alike stretch our thinking and expand our empathy to take into account people we will never know...These are people we need to keep in mind as we in the Great Lakes Basin define our stewardship of nearly one-fifth of the world’s available surface fresh water.”
On the overall scarcity of water in the world.
...”I think there are perhaps near-imminent circumstances under which the U.S. and Canada and their peoples will be asked to share water with human sufferers in crisis. Would we really say “no” to hundreds of thousands of whose lives were at risk?
On this region’s permissiveness towards private corporations who are allowed to sell our water for profit, while many suffer without water.
“I would ask you to consider, then, why it might be unthinkable to give away Great Lakes water, so essential to life, to the distressed – but it’s fine to sell water to those who are not distressed.”
Dempsey’s speech should be required reading for every legislator and policy maker in the Great Lakes Basin.
It’s that important
gw
You can find the entire text at the link below.
Editor’s note – Dave Dempsey is a co-editor of the Great Lakes Town Hall

Comments

Alan Maki's picture

Question and comments

Submitted by Alan Maki on Mon, 04/28/2008 - 18:07.
This is am important speech which should receive very wide distribution because for once the issue of water is placed in the proper perspective; as is the question of who "owns" the Great Lakes' water.
This speech goes far beyond the self-serving and hypocritical lecture I heard United States Congressman James Oberstar deliver for "Water Day" during the 2008 Freeman Forum at the University of Minnesota.
A question:
The figure of 300 million gallons of water a year is used. Is this the actual figure for how much bottled water is being "used" for bottling at the present time? Do you have the figure beginning the first year of commercial water bottling? Do you have any projections to what this figure will be in the years ahead?
You state: "I suggest it might take an initiative like what Bono and Secretary O’Neill envisioned – short-term relief coupled with the development and conservation of water resources in the home nations where scarcity exists. In that unique American combination of selflessness and self-interest, we could save lives, export our water technology abroad and make a profit, and promote water self-sufficiency in some developing nations. We might then also restore to a mild degree our tarnished image abroad."
I don't think it is correct to say that America has this "combination of selflessness and self-interest." In another part you refer to "people" making decisions.
What does exist is a culture that has been shaped by capitalist greed and the drive for corporate profit where those in the corporate boardrooms are making the decisions that none of us have a say in... this is something quite distinct from the generic term of "people."
In this statement, I think you damage your argument for maintaining water as a public resource not to be commercialized in the Great Lakes Region (which I wholeheartedly and very strongly agree with you on), by stating, "we could save lives, export our water technology abroad and make a profit."
Why must everything always center around making a profit? Why would we suggest it is okay to profit from the misery of a poverty stricken country (which these countries usually are when there is a problem with water supplies), yet take the approach of non-commercialization of Great Lakes water?
Yes, "we" could save lives with a highly developed humanitarian policy on the water question. Yes, we should export our water technology abroad where ever it is needed and requested. But, why must this humanitarian assistance be predicated on "profitability?"
As for your comparisons of water to oil... I do not think that people realize that we are at present paying the exact same price for one pint of water as you do for oil at the Holiday Station/Convenience store.
Who profits? Who pays? Who suffers?
I see a pattern linking these questions; those who profit do so at the expense of those who suffer. Of course, like the people who suffer, the ecosystem suffers as the corporations are the only ones to profit.
I don't see the questions and problems of water being resolved as long as we put up with a social and economic system driven by a quest for maximum profits.
Is there anything which leads you to think that water will be treated any differently from iron ore, oil; or, even human labor under this system?
Here in Minnesota we have three major watersheds to look after... the Great Lakes, Lake of the Woods and Red Lake watersheds and the Lake of the Woods and Red Lake watersheds are fairing even worse than the Great Lakes due to peat mining and iron ore mining; both major contributors to polluting and contaminating all three watersheds.
On top of this you have sulfide mining going into operation in Michigan and Minnesota. Again, threatening all three watersheds. Again, the reason: corporate profits.
Rather than being concerned about the profits in developing water technologies we should finally be truly concerned for a change with creating "jobs, jobs, jobs" in the new "water technologies" that will have to become part of any "greening" of American society and the rest of the world.
Competition for profits has outlived any use it ever had and it is time to start considering a cooperative approach to these problems.
If the competitive drive for profits continues to dominate American society and our thinking we are most likely doomed.
There will always be greater profits in war for the military-financial-industrial complex than what there is in making life better for people.
Einstein explained all of this many years ago in answering the question, "Why Socialism?"
—
Alan L. Maki
58891 County Road 13
Warroad, Minnesota 56763
Phone: 218-386-2432
Blog: h

The Great Lakes and Humankind

Submitted by Dave Dempsey on Tue, 04/29/2008 - 11:20.
Alan,
Thanks for your thoughts and questions. You are always thought provoking. I appreciate your interest in the Town Hall.
I'll answer your questions now and think about your comments over the next few days.
The 300 million gallons refers only to the Nestle Corporation's exploitation of Michigan water from two pumping sites. The company has plans to take more there and the figure Basin-wide is substantially bigger. Until the last six months of anti-bottled water publicity, the projections for the future were alarming. They may still be.
You say, "Why must everything always center around making a profit? Why would we suggest it is okay to profit from the misery of a poverty stricken country (which these countries usually are when there is a problem with water supplies), yet take the approach of non-commercialization of Great Lakes water?"
Touche. I am not against profit in any way, shape or form, but I agree that emphasizing profit in the way I did is a form of pandering. I'm more interested in the U.S. showing that it genuinely cares about human beings far away by assisting them, at no profit if required, in dealing with their sustainable water needs.
What alarms me most beside our indifference to faraway water scarcity is the failure of our governments in the Great Lakes Basin to be awake to, or to care about, the imminent danger of commercialization of fresh water. It's happening under our noses and the regional compact going through ratification does little to stop it -- it even creates a loophole expressly designed to permit such commercialization.
Alan Maki's picture

The Great Lakes and Humankind

Submitted by Alan Maki on Tue, 04/29/2008 - 11:53.
Thanks for the info on the bottled water.
As I mentioned, I was at the 2008 Freeman Forum which featured Congressman James Oberstar for the main lecture "Water, Water, Everywhere?"
Notice the question mark.
At the conclusion of Oberstar's lecture, a guy asked him why he wasn't drinking tap water instead of bottled water.
Oberstar arrogantly responded without the least little bit of concern
"I am sure this water came out of a tap somewhere." He then held up the bottle and took a big swig.
This from a guy who just got done boasting about what a great environmentalist he was.
Just unbelievable.
Water bottling is a big-business not only in Michigan, but Wisconsin and Minnesota, too.
You have probably noticed in many places it is hard to find a drinking fountain any more... everyone wants to sell water to you.
I met with a group of people from White Cloud, Michigan who fought Nestle Corporation. It is really hard for people to fight off these corporations when the government always sides with the corporations.
I think the fight to protect water from corporate domination of this important resource could be a very key unifying factor in getting people to coalesce to begin electing politicians who are not controlled by the corporations.
In spite of a few differences, I think your speech should receive the widest circulation possible. It is the best speech I have read by an environmentalist to date. Hopefully you are sending it to all the environmental organizations.
I sent it to Carl Pope at the Sierra Club and several unions and community organizations.
I don't mean to put all the work on you, but I think if you have the funds, every single state, federal and the provincial politicians should get copies of your speech by snail mail with a cover letter from you enclosed.
You might even ask others to sign on to it kind of "endorsers" of the direction we want to see this issue around water go.
You might even consider something like a "petition" or "an open letter" signed by a bunch of people who say they support the views you express.
People are bound to have some differences with some of the views you express in this speech; but, I think you are going to find the overwhelming majority of the people are going to be very supportive in opposing the commercialization of "our" water as you have articulated here.
—
Alan L. Maki
58891 County Road 13
Warroad, Minnesota 56763
Phone: 218-386-2432
Blog: h
Alan Maki's picture

Neoliberal economics and water

Submitted by Alan Maki on Thu, 05/01/2008 - 09:26.
I was asked by William Willers, one of the founders of Superior Wilderness Action Network and a long time environmentalist from Wisconsin to post this for him. William Willers is Professor Emeritus of Biology, University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh.
Note to readers: This response was a result of an e-mailing I sent out which I later posted to my blog because of the tremendous response I received.
-----Original Message-----
From: William Willers [mailto:willers@charter.net]
Sent: Wednesday, April 30, 2008 10:30 PM
To: Alan L. Maki
Subject: Fwd: Discussion continues... Water, water, everywhere? Just bottle it and turn water into another commodity for big-business to profit from using cheap labor? Or...
Alan: I hope this is not offensive to your beliefs, or to anyone's. I sent it out to get feedback, because I'd like to get a feel for opinions on this issue. I don't know how large your email list is, but if there is a discussion going on I'd appreciate you putting it out to see what reactions it might bring. Bill
[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[
Begin forwarded message:
From: William Willers
Date: April 29, 2008 4:00:28 PM CDT
To: Alan Maki
Subject: Re: Discussion continues... Water, water, everywhere? Just bottle it and turn water into another commodity for big-business to profit from using cheap labor? Or...
The coming water shortage in the U.S. and elsewhere has been known for many years. In the U.S., Marc Reisner's "Cadillac Desert", published in 1986, invoked history and all that is known of geology and water use to warn society. It was ignored, of course, as desert cities - Phoenix, Tucson, Los Vegas, etc. - went full speed ahead with cancerous growth and libertarian "freedom" and the religion of property rights above all, even as water tables were dropping and rivers being tapped out. The apparent attitude has been "There's money to be made, and sure, we can arm-twist the Great Lakes people when, some day, our actions have caused a crash." Yea free market!
The question becomes one of "When does a person - or a society - have to face the consequences of its decisions and actions?" By extension, "What is the obligation of the Great Lakes to bail out regions or countries whose "leaders" have, with eyes wide open, put themselves and their communities into an entirely predictable situation?"
The Great Lakes Basin is the center - the freshwater "heart", if you will - of North America. It's not that it HAS water, it's that it IS water and ABOUT water. Do take note that even now, with lake levels down, "experts" have no definitive answer as to why. But hell, if you're a Chicago-School, neoliberal economist, it makes all the sense in the world to pipe water to New Mexico, or bottle it and sell it to yuppies, or ship it out of the Basin in tankers to other parts of the Globe, if the "free market" says it's economically feasible.
Sorry, but if nature has taught anything, it's that it has a reservoir of unintended consequences for "experts" who thought they knew what they were doing. And it doesn't matter if shipping water out of the Basin is done with profit as a motive or as humanitarian gesture. I don't know who Dempsey is, and I wouldn't want to disparage someone's honest efforts, but in reading his appeal to my humanitarian sensibilities, I felt I was being set up.
If it is an obligation of Great Lakes people to deal with the water issues of poor nations (even as their populations continue to grow at an absolutely insane rate), it would be most effective, not to mention protective of the Basin Ecosystem, to work for population control in those countries and for improvement THERE of water resources, whatever that might mean in terms of creation of wells or education or water purification plants. One's first obligation is protection of one's home.
—
Alan L. Maki
58891 County Road 13
Warroad, Minnesota 56763
Phone: 218-386-2432
Blog: h
Alan Maki's picture

I forgot to mention...

Submitted by Alan Maki on Thu, 05/01/2008 - 09:29.
The e-mail I sent out contained a copy of this full speech by Dave Dempsey... my blog contains some photos in addition to the speech and the comments.
—
Alan L. Maki
58891 County Road 13
Warroad, Minnesota 56763
Phone: 218-386-2432
Blog: h

Great lakes Water Resources

Submitted by Michigan Cow Girl on Thu, 05/01/2008 - 12:29.
What I am about to write will invariably outrage many readers. I risk severe rebukes as a consequence to this post. What I opine, is what I believe and preach.
Under NO circumstance should one drop of Great Lakes Water be diverted,sold,or other wise given to anyone outside the states that border all the Great lakes and its' tributaries.
This also includes Canada.
Our water is going to be more valuable than gold in years to come. The lakes already are stressed enough, and the water tables have fallen dramatically over the last 20 years. There isn't enough to share with the world at any cost or price. As the planet heats up, and it is, the lakes will shrink due to evaporation. The lack of adequate snow and rain will also have an impact as well.
The world is going to see massive droughts and famines as it continues to heat up, and as a by- product, Humans in these regions will be pushed to extiction. I say, GOOD! Let them die off! The world is over populated as it is. It is way past the tipping point, with a population over shoot by billions of humans. So let them die off. I have no sympathy, or apathy for these breeders and feeders that really contribute nothing to the larger world.
I am tired of the calls for food aid and intervention on their behalf.
The world is going to see a change so severe that there really is no previous precedent to compare it to. The sea's and oceans are nearly depleated of fish. Which drives humans to go after bush meat. Further stressing the eco systems. Some oceanic area's are completely devoid of anything useful. The whales are even starving as a result of human greed and piggishness. The oceans are turning acidic, which in turn, is changing the eco system for everything that lives in it.
Over harvesting of virgin timberlands, to create more farm land, which requires tons of fertilizers to enrich,which runs off into rivers and then to the seas, add fuel to the ecological fires, plus corporate agri-business giants are driving the ecological meltdown world wide as well. GMO seeds are one case in point. It is about to all explode in our faces.
Here is where the meat of the issues comes into play. As less and less rain fall occurs around the globe, the calls for fresh water will escalate to a deafening volume. Areas such as the Great Lakes will be looked upon with envy and many evil plans will be hatched to acquire it. Non will bode well for we, the residents of this great resource area. We must nip in the bud, actually kill, any plans being hatched to usurp and take away our most precious resource surrounding our states. The Federal government will surly try to impliment some, nefarious for us, and profit making deal for them, to control who gets water in the future. WE, all of us, that surround all the Lakes will have to stand our ground, and fight if needs be, to protect and defend our lakes. It will come to this sure as hell. You can count on it.
As far as the rest of world of the world is concerned, they can all dry up, and drop dead!
Further more, I don't want a bunch of third world or forth world immigrants( ignorant breeders and eaters ) pouring into this area either. We need to close our borders, and seal them tight. The "Great Die Off" is coming. Prepare for it. Adjust your thinking. Spare the pity parties and the liberalism for the rest of the population. LET THEM DIE! If we are to survive, we need them to die...the sooner the better!
Prepare yourself to fight and protect our Great Lakes from anyone who would dare lay any claim to them who is an outsider, including the FEDS.
Things are about to get real ugly, very soon.
If you live in the south western arid zones...don't even think about it! Drop dead!
Spare me your pitying outcries and your religious views. If you don't like it, you too can die off with the rest of them. We don't need you!
I, we, will defend our ranch,our animals,and water rights with armed force if the need arises.
We will also defend our fuel tanks with deadly force as well. (We already caught one S.O.B trying to steal gasoline.)
Get ready for it!
Alan Maki's picture

This is an interesting view of water, life and the world

Submitted by Alan Maki on Thu, 05/01/2008 - 15:48.
A lot of the world's peoples might have reason to view us the same way; but, they don't. Lucky us.
Why not just revert to outright cannibalism?
Your philosophy and outlook on life fits in nicely with the present capitalist system and way of doing things here in this country... I guess this is why some four-thousand body bags have returned full from Iraq, and why Einstein suggested we need to change our way of thinking. I think we can ALL survive the consequences of failing to live iin harmony with nature... it's just going to take a little more cooperation with the rest of the world, and quite a bit more understanding and a real willingness to respond to problems in a more timely and humanitarian manner; and, quite frankly, since you were aware that your posting was going to be quite offensive to "bleeding hearts" like me, I assume you won't mind me perhaps offending you, by suggesting you might want to consider a more empathetic way of looking at these problems then what you have stated here.
—
Alan L. Maki
58891 County Road 13
Warroad, Minnesota 56763
Phone: 218-386-2432
Blog: h

It is over!

Submitted by Michigan Cow Girl on Fri, 05/02/2008 - 20:40.
What everyone is so slow to see, realize, and face, is that the way humans have done business, and spread their idiotic lifestyles around the globe, is OVER. The End Of The World As WeKnow It is now happening. Remember the letters; TEOTWAWKI. You will see it more and more as the years progress towards our final end.
There is no magical sciences going to save us, no miracles from heaven,prayers aren't going to reverse the situation. Hope is for fools! We who are living right now, will see it all end. Absolute and total collapse is beginning, and will continue with an ever frightening pace. Stop believing what the government tries to sell as answers. There aren't any. WE are all S.O.L. Everything that has been done, cannot be reversed fast enough to change anything. It would take the Earth 10,000+ years to undo what we have done,if we all disappeared today.
The ones lucky enough to have access to fresh water, and if it is protected, will survive longer than those that don't. Which is the point here. Saving our precious water resources for US! The world can't can't be saved by a bunch of stupid narrow minded doo-gooders who think that every one can share what is left, and is shrinking daily. I don't give a rats turd about dying Africans or anyone else. Their fates are sealed. AS I posted before, let them die off.
With the Earth fast approaching ENDGAME, she'll be lucky if she can support a total world wide population of 500,000 individulas in 50 years.
Get over trying to cling to the dying paradigm your living in. The chances that your grand children will survive,is slim to none.
IT IS OVER! all thats left is the crying and dying!
If you want to live a while longer than most, FIGHT FOR OUR WATER WITH WHATEVER IT TAKES.
There is no where near enough to share with the world or the rest of the country.
Only the ones mean enough, tough enough, and willing to defend their water rights, will last the next fifty. The USA government is about to become your worst nightmare. It will become our mortal enemy. YOU ARE NOT GOING TO LIKE WHAT IS COMING! Many will beg for concentration camps.
(and there are 800 in this country right now waiting for you)
WE are nearly ready to chuck it in here at the ranch. It is getting way to regulated, to expensive, and unprofitable. We'll keep the horses as long as we can,we may need them when gasoline is $50+ a gal. in 5 years, but the cattle are on short notice.
Every one better wise up, and fast! It is going to get ugly, and soon.
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