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Books
Blue Gold: The global water crisis and the commodification of the world's
water supply by Maude Barlow and Tony Clarke (New Press, 2005)
Cogently argues that water, a basic necessity, should be treated differently
from other commodities and not placed into private hands. In some countries,
water has already been privatised, leading to depleted resources where poorer
residents actually pay more for water than their richer neighbours. In the meantime,
Pepsi and Coke's sales of bottled water are taking water away from municipal
supplies.
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Every Drop for Sale by Jeffrey Rothfeder (Jeremy Tarcher, 2002)
Sobering report on the future of freshwater resources. Rothfeder opines that
water is fated to become a commodity, bought up by multinationals and sold to
those who can afford it. The case he makes is relentless, from damning dams
in Egypt, China and the US, to the dry prospects for Atlanta and Los Angeles,
where inexorable population growth has far outpaced water supplies.
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this book
Manifesto for the Earth: Action now for peace, global justice and a sustainable future
by Mikhail Gorbachev (Clairview Books, 2006)
For more than a decade Gorbachev has been engaged in working to protect the Earth and
its inhabitants via the organisation he founded in 1992, Green Cross International.
This books sets out his vision.
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this book
Population Bomb by Paul Ehrlich (Buccaneer Books, 1997)
This bestseller was first published in 1968 and predicted famine and disaster on a
scale unprecedented in world history. It offers some insight into the history of
population environmentalism.
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this book
Water Follies: Groundwater pumping and the fate of America's fresh waters
by Robert Jerome Glennon (Island Press, 2002)
In a striking collection of stories that brings to life the human and natural
consequences of our growing national thirst, the author provides a
thorough account of groundwater pumping and the environmental problems it causes.
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this book
Water Wars: Drought, flood, folly and the politics of thirst by
Diane Raines Ward (Riverhead Books, 2003)
Based on 10 years of research spanning five continents, Ward presents an analysis
of droughts, pollution, population growth and climate change which threatens
to make water, even more than oil, the cause of war within our lifetimes.
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this book
Water Wars: Pollution, profits and privatisation by Vandana Shiva (Pluto Press,
2002)
Shiva, a world-renowned environmentalist and campaigner, examines the 'water-war'
of the 21st century - the progressive privatisation by the multinationals of communal
water rights.
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this book
When the Rivers Run Dry: What happens when our water runs out? by Fred Pearce
(Eden Books, 2006)
Pearce has travelled the world to provide the most complete portrait yet of
the causes of the world water crisis.
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