Apr 18 - Four dollars for a gallon of water? The dream of Monsanto and other corporations

(NaturalNews) Four dollars for a gallon of gas is ridiculous enough, but $4 for a gallon of water could someday became a reality, that is if oil tycoons like T. Boone Pickens and water bottling companies have their way. Privatization of water in which companies control the public's water sources and free water is a thing of the past appears to be what Pickens and corporations such as Monsanto, Royal Dutch Shell, and Nestle are banking on to increase their vast fortunes.

Companies, brokers and billionaires are buying up groundwater rights and aquifers. Groundwater is necessary for agriculture and more water is needed to meet a growing demand for food. Many countries have already over-pumped their groundwater to feed increasing local populations. Combine this with climate changes and an ever-increasing strain on water resources due to a rapidly growing world population and you have got a future where water is called "blue gold" because of its scarcity and high cost.

Bleak future
The Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development estimates that half the world's population will reside in areas with significant water stress by 2030. According to a government report entitled Global Water Security, the demand for water will be 40 percent above sustainable water supplies with needs around 6,900 billion cubic meters due to population growth. By 2025, the world's population will likely exceed 8 billion people.

Private corporations already own 5 percent of the world's fresh water. Australia is an excellent example of a country already suffering from multiple water droughts. Farmers are selling water rights to brokers, unaware of the long-term effects.

The United States is by no means immune to these plots. Royal Dutch Shell owns groundwater rights in Colorado and oil tycoon Pickens is buying up all he can in Texas. He owns more water than any other person in the U.S. His plan is to sell the water owns, around 65 billion gallons annually, to Dallas and other major cities affected by droughts. Pickens hopes to profit off of desperation, saying "There are people who will buy the water when they need it. And the people who have the water want to sell it. That's the blood, guts, and feathers of the thing." He also owns a massive wind farm in the area and natural gas resources, but has admitted that he is no environmentalist, only an entrepreneur who goes where the money is.

Stopping the madness
The public might not even be able to rely on the government to do the right thing and protect everyone from private water owners buying up all the water and then selling it for as much as people are able to pay. Lawmakers in most states did not foresee water privatization because water was once plentiful. As such, in some cases the only people who legally have a right to stop water privatization plans are the people who reside on the water property. For Pickens and his land near the Ogallala Aquifer this means that he, his wife and three of his employees are the only people who have a say in his privatization plans, according to EarthFirst.com.

The only way people can fight this despicable process is to refuse to support it. Water districts across the U.S. are refusing to purchase water from private companies. If Pickens, Monsanto and others have no one to sell the water to then they will give up. They are only in it for the money. No buyers means no profit.

Sources for this article include:

Bloomberg Businessweek: There Will Be Water
There Will Be Water
EarthFirst.com: "Blue Gold": T. Boone Pickens and the Privatization of Water
EarthFirst
Office of the Director of National Intelligence: Global Water Security
http://www.dni.gov/nic/ICA_Global%20...20Security.pdf

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Four dollars for a gallon of water? The dream of Monsanto and other corporations wanting to privatize water

I've been saying for years now.

The North American Union is coming, and Canada's water supply will be privatized.

Water will be worth more than gold in 50-100yrs.

capitalism aint it beautiful

What a bunch of greedy [!]s.

as long as it stil rains and people can fill buckets and filtration device become smaller and cheaper i dont think that will happen

and the north american union will never happen

So the people in OR and WA State will be cool. But TX who is having one of the worst droughts ever, anywhere in the mid west, south west, etc is going to be !!ed.

Plus even if it poured for weeks and you filled up 20 10 gallon buckets, that water won't stay fresh forever. Eventually it's gonna go bad, even with bleach or whatever.

There was actually a dude here in CO that got in trouble for collecting rain water some years back. After a bunch of lawsuits and stuff, the law changed, but who's to say they won't enforce a law against it? [pic]

And I still think the NAU will happen. Watch the next 2yrs and when the market collapses again, it's the only other option we'll have.

!! will go down over water, gas is one thing but privatizing and regulating water will result in [rip].

[pic]

niccas buyin water?

I think the North American Union will happen. And I actually welcome it. I just don't see it as inherently evil [pic]

I'll rob a !! for a glass of water.

Hell yes! I'm right on the Mississippi, I'm gonna be slangin that wata all day!

let someone !! with my big[..] cup of ice water....T.O.S [pic]

i get 5 gallons for 2$

already happening

yea so that means your !![..] wasn't having a drought a while ago? [pic]

[pic] @ trying to talk !! just to be a !! and missing the entire point of the post. [pic]