Blue Future: Protecting Water For People And The Planet Forever

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In her bestselling books Blue Gold and Blue Covenant, world-renowned water activist Maude Barlow exposed the battle for ownership of our dwindling water supply and the emergence of an international, grassroots-led movement to reclaim water as a public good. Since then, the United Nations has recognized access to water as a basic human right—but there is still much work to be done to stem this growing crisis. In this major new book, Barlow draws on her extensive experience and insight to lay out a set of key principles that show the way forward to what she calls a “water-secure and water-just world.” Not only does she reveal the powerful players even now impeding the recognition of the human right to water, she argues that water must not become a commodity to be bought and sold on the open market. Focusing on solutions, she includes stories of struggle and resistance from marginalized communities, as well as government policies that work for both people and the planet. At a time when climate change has moved to the top of the national agenda and when the stage is being set for unprecedented drought, mass starvation, and the migration of millions of refugees in search of water, Blue Future is an urgent call to preserve our most valuable resource for generations to come.

Hardcover: 336 pages

Publisher: The New Press (January 7, 2014)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1595589473

ISBN-13: 978-1595589477

Product Dimensions: 1 x 5.5 x 8.5 inches

Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)

Best Sellers Rank: #439,255 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #107 in Books > Science & Math > Nature & Ecology > Water Supply & Land Use #145 in Books > Engineering & Transportation > Engineering > Civil & Environmental > Environmental > Water Quality & Treatment #374 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Politics & Government > Public Affairs & Policy > Environmental Policy

This book is well written, but it is ultimately misleading. The author is concerned about the widening gap between the rich and the poor and about environmental destruction - concerns that are widely shared, including by this reviewer. Few will disagree with some of the principles she advocates - "the human right to water", or "water as a common heritage".But there are three problems with this book. The first is that the author overstates her case. She warns about "drought on an unprecedented scale, mass starvation and the migration of millions of water refugees". She ignores that 275,000 people gain access to drinking water every day, that the UN's Millennium Goal for access to drinking water has been met early, that refugees are mostly on the run because of wars and political persecution rather than water scarcity, and that the share of people living in poverty has consistently fallen globally according to the UN and the World Bank. The second problem is that she has a too narrow view of who the villains are - big corporations. The third problem is that she has an equally narrow view about who the heroes are - grass-roots organizations and civil society.The book leaves no room for subtleties and the complexities of the real world of water, such as how to finance the much needed investments in water infrastructure and how to maintain it in good working order. Nor does it discuss how we can keep water affordable to the poor when most governments are highly indebted, aid is in scarce supply, and the effectiveness of aid is being challenged. In this book, there is no room for the failure of many publicly managed water utilities in developing countries.

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