Sunday, September 23, 2007
Water, water everywhere
In the "Rime of the Ancient Mariner", the poet writes about how water surrounds his craft, but none can be drunk as it is saltwater, and unfit for drinking.
Today we face a similar, but less immediate, problem. From California to here in South Carolina, water is becoming more of a scarce resource.
Being a Green does not make the "laws of economics" go away. If the supply of water drops, the price will rise. This is what I call a "natural law", that is, like gravity, the law of supply and demand does not respond to legislation.
So...if we accept the idea that water is becoming more scarce, and if we accept the concept that the result is a hike in prices for water, what are we to do to assure that water is affordable?
The answer is in the law. Supply is the response to the increase in demand unless we are willing to accept a higher price.
The question is, how can we increase the supply without doing damage to the environment, and how can we do this at a cost that is affordable to society.
Wes has written about this issue at CA Greening, and over at Green Commons.
Here in Fort Mill, SC, we are told to water our yards only twice a week, leave our cars unwashed, and leave filling our swimming pools for after the water crunch. None of these apply to me much, because I have no pool, don't water my yard (except the bushes and trees) and don't wash my car. even so, this is a sign that we face difficulties down the road.
The Green Party can play a vital role in drawing the American people's attention to this problem. If we can find solutions we will be seen as both capable of the "vision thing" and also capable of leading society in the face of serious difficulties.
This is not a game. This is real. The political life we Greens have chosen does not allow us to push out heads into the sand and pretend. Since we know how screwed up the situation is, we must deal with it.
Today we face a similar, but less immediate, problem. From California to here in South Carolina, water is becoming more of a scarce resource.
Being a Green does not make the "laws of economics" go away. If the supply of water drops, the price will rise. This is what I call a "natural law", that is, like gravity, the law of supply and demand does not respond to legislation.
So...if we accept the idea that water is becoming more scarce, and if we accept the concept that the result is a hike in prices for water, what are we to do to assure that water is affordable?
The answer is in the law. Supply is the response to the increase in demand unless we are willing to accept a higher price.
The question is, how can we increase the supply without doing damage to the environment, and how can we do this at a cost that is affordable to society.
Wes has written about this issue at CA Greening, and over at Green Commons.
Here in Fort Mill, SC, we are told to water our yards only twice a week, leave our cars unwashed, and leave filling our swimming pools for after the water crunch. None of these apply to me much, because I have no pool, don't water my yard (except the bushes and trees) and don't wash my car. even so, this is a sign that we face difficulties down the road.
The Green Party can play a vital role in drawing the American people's attention to this problem. If we can find solutions we will be seen as both capable of the "vision thing" and also capable of leading society in the face of serious difficulties.
This is not a game. This is real. The political life we Greens have chosen does not allow us to push out heads into the sand and pretend. Since we know how screwed up the situation is, we must deal with it.
// posted by Gregg Jocoy @ 2:38 PM 
