Free Republic

In 2007 approximately 280,000 Chinese children under the age of five died from preventable diseases caused by lack of clean drinking water. According to the UN, contaminated drinking water causes five times the number of child deaths than are caused by HIV/AIDS. More than 300 million rural Chinese citizens lack access to clean drinking water. Sewage is often dumped into the fields creating a breeding ground for disease in rural China. The World Bank estimates that health and environmental problems cost the Chinese about $50 billion a year. Is it any wonder that the Chinese are spending tens of billions...

T. Boone Pickens, Scam Artist, Given Eminent Domain Authority in Texas!By Cary Wesberry • August 2, 2008 All-around jerk T. Boone Pickens has managed to swindle Texas into giving him eminent domain powers.  The State Legislature changed State Law allowing two residents in Roberts County to vote and create a municipal water district, thereby giving them the power to confiscate private property.  The two voters were Pickens’ wife and manager of his ranch.   Regardless of T. Boone Pickens, those responsible for this abomination in my State Legislature need to be held responsible for their probable criminal activity in working behind the backs of the People...

Tim Budney scoffed at the fliers spread across the table in front of him. The pieces of paper, arrayed for an audience of natural gas drillers at a recent Harrisburg meeting, boasted of one wastewater treatment facility’s daily capacity to treat hundreds of thousands of gallons of the dirty water produced during gas exploration in the Marcellus Shale. Mr. Budney was unimpressed. He had recently pumped and recovered more than 4 million gallons of water to develop just two Western Pennsylvania gas wells for Pittsburgh-based CNX Gas Corp.

SPRINGFIELD, IL — It is unclear who was responsible for providing water to attendees of an August 21 event featuring Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama, where an estimated 150 people were treated for heat-related illness, including 17 who required hospitalization, according to an August 26 article in the Journal Star. Justin DeJong, spokesman for Obama for America in Illinois, said the Obama campaign worked with Downtown Springfield, Inc. (DSI) to provide water for the crowd. DSI volunteers sold water for $2 per cup at three locations near the plaza. Springfield Mayor Tim Davlin said in the article that the city...

Firm launches bottled water - from the same source as taps Last updated at 23:20pm on 23.08.08  Cambridge Water's new product comes from the same aquifer as its tap supply For years, utility companies have told us that we are wasting our money buying mineral water.But now a firm which makes millions from selling tap water has started marketing bottled mineral water – from the same underground source.The parent company of Cambridge Water has invested £10million in a bottling plant above a chalk aquifer.The new company, Iceni Waters, has already struck deals with stores including Tesco, Morrisons and the...

THOUSANDS of Chinese farmers face ruin because their water has been cut off to guarantee supplies to the Olympics in Beijing, and officials are now trying to cover up a grotesque scandal of blunders, lies and repression. In the capital, foreign dignitaries have admired millions of flowers in bloom, lush, well-watered greens around its famous sights. Just 90 minutes south by train, peasants are hacking at the dry earth as their crops wilt, their money runs out and the work of generations gives way to despair, debt and, in a few cases, suicide. The water scandal is a parable of...

Lt. Col. Linda Capobianco, from Salt Lake City, Utah, embedded Provincial Reconstruction Team, checks on the Mahmudiyah water tower which is soon to have a pipeline running to it from Al Rasheed, Aug.17, 2008. Photo by Pfc. Christopher McKenna, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (AA) Public Affairs. FOB MAHMUDIYAH — A water pipeline that will connect the city of Al Rasheed to the city of Mahmudiyah is nearing completion. “People who have been limited on their water supply within the city will soon not have to worry about such issues,� said Sgt. Hamad Ali Kathwan, 25th Brigade, 17th...

It never ceases to amaze us how once crusaders for fashionable causes get a particular bogeyman in their heads, there is just no shaking it. It becomes a symbol for all they distrust about the modern world: corporations, the marketplace and consumerism. In battling it, they see themselves striking a blow for the public good, the environment, social justice, fairness and more. The current trendy bete noir is bottled water, the evils of which are being blown all out of proportion. British Environment Minister Phil Woolas has recently insisted that drinking bottled water is "morally unacceptable." Giles Coren, restaurant critic...

Reviewed By Elizabeth Klodas, MD, FACC 13 Million Americans Are Exposed to Dangerous Levels of Arsenic Through Drinking Water Exposure to arsenic, typically through drinking water, is linked to diabetes, according a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Thirteen million Americans — and millions more worldwide — are exposed to drinking water contaminated with more inorganic arsenic than the Environmental Protection Agency has deemed safe. The EPA standard is 10 micrograms per liter. Researchers, led by Ana Navas-Acien, MD, PhD, of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Health, studied 788 adults who had their urine tested...

Weak sun created cool oceans, lowered rainfall seven times in 7,000 yearsATHENS, Ohio (Aug. 19, 2008) – A stalagmite in a West Virginia cave has yielded the most detailed geological record to date on climate cycles in eastern North America over the past 7,000 years. The new study confirms that during periods when Earth received less solar radiation, the Atlantic Ocean cooled, icebergs increased and precipitation fell, creating a series of century-long droughts. A research team led by Ohio University geologist Gregory Springer examined the trace metal strontium and carbon and oxygen isotopes in the stalagmite, which preserved climate conditions...

An important California reservoir is nearing its lowest level in 30 years, and other state reservoirs also are very low – more evidence of a gathering water crisis that could lead to mandatory rationing in Southern California by next year, state officials say. The Oroville Reservoir in Northern California, a major supply reservoir for water that eventually flows into the Southern California region, is down to 38 percent of its capacity, according to the state Department of Water Resources. By Sept. 30, Oroville, about 75 miles north of Sacramento, is expected to hit its lowest level since 1977, and by...

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STOCKHOLM (AFP) - Wastewater is widely used to irrigate urban agricultural land in developing countries, a practice that has both advantages and disadvantages, a 53-city study presented at a water conference in Stockholm showed Monday. Wastewater agriculture contributes importantly to urban food supplies and helps provide a livelihood for the poor, but can also lead to health risks for consumers, particularly for vegetables consumed uncooked, the report by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) said.

Water experts of all stripes were left questioning the prudence of Republican presidential candidate and Arizona Sen. John McCain after he told a newspaper the critical 1922 water compact between seven Western states should be revisited. “I don’t think there’s any doubt the major, major issue is water and can be as important as oil. So the compact that is in effect, obviously, needs to be renegotiated over time amongst the interested parties,” McCain told The Pueblo Chieftain. “I think that there’s a movement amongst the governors to try, if not, quote, renegotiate, certainly adjust to the new realities of...

TVA has approved a water-access deal for a development group whose investors include U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler, D-N.C., who sits on a committee that exercises oversight of the federal utility.

COMBAT OUTPOST RIO LOBO — The most important natural resource for Iraqi citizens and Coalition forces in Iraq is water. Combat engineers with Combat Logistics Battalion 6, 1st Marine Logistics Group, recently teamed up with the leaders of Regimental Combat Team 5’s 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion and Iraq’s Ministry of Water to facilitate the building of a new combat outpost here. “Building this COP outside Rio Lobo frees up the structures for the Ministry of Water, facilitating the reopening of the water plant,” said 2nd Lt. James R. Armstrong, 1st Marine Division. When the Marines occupy the new outpost,...

...Ask him about basic economics... The papers listed all the new regulations that will take affect when the mayor signs the new water legislation. It includes: The ban on the use of water on hard surfaces, such as sidewalks (except for water broom) The ban on the serving of water to customers in eating establishments, unless water is requested. A limit on outdoor watering to 15 minutes per water station. The ban on washing cars without shut off mechanisms on the hose. The banning on watering of large landscape areas that do not have rain sensors. The requirement that hotels...

Nancy Pelosi says that she is trying to save the planet and prevent global warming, but the reality is that, according to disclosure statements, in May 2007 she invested in T. Boone Picken’s clean energy fuels corp., CLNE, which is the sole sponsor of a proposal in California to funnel $5 billion in state funds and $5 billion in Federal funs to this corporation which will indirectly help them create a giant wind farm in the Texas panhandle. An overlooked story in November of 2007 shows that the T. Boone Pickens plan involves the private control of water, which Pickens...

Pickens Gives New Meaning to "Self-Government" By Steven Milloy The more you learn about T. Boone Pickens’ plan to switch America to wind power, the more you realize that he seems willing to say and do just about anything to make another billion or two. This column previously discussed the plan’s technical and economic shortcomings and marketing ruses. Today, we’ll look into the diabolical machinations behind it. Simply put, Pickens’ pitch is “embrace wind power to help break our ‘addiction’ to foreign oil.” There is, however, another intriguing component to Pickens’ plan that goes unmentioned in his TV commercials, media...

The California Coastal Commission approved a plan to build the Western Hemisphere's largest desalination plant north of San Diego -- a move aimed at relieving water shortages in the nation's most populated state. Wednesday's decision came after a daylong debate over the merits of the $300 million Carlsbad project, which is expected to eventually produce 10 percent of San Diego County's water supply from ocean water. Construction on the plant could begin next year and begin delivering drinking water in 2011, according to Connecticut-based Poseidon Resources Corp., which is heading the project. Commissioners gave the plant conditional approval in November....

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US and British researchers have confirmed the link between warmer climate and an increase in powerful rainstorms, according to a study released Thursday that underscores one of the challenges of global warming. The researchers even found that the increase of extreme rainfall was higher than what has been predicted in current computer models, according to the study published in the journal Science...

CARLSBAD – A private company's proposal to build the nation's largest drinking water desalination plant at Agua Hedionda Lagoon in Carlsbad cleared its final hurdles yesterday before the California Coastal Commission. ... The $300 million plant envisioned by Poseidon Resources Inc. of Stamford, Conn., would produce 50 million gallons of drinking water each day, enough to supply 112,000 households. Nine local water agencies have collectively contracted to buy the plant's entire output of drinking water. ... The commission's resolution of those issues Wednesday set a precedent for how the agency will handle about 20 other desalination projects that could be...

Maybe the snow in the Cascade Mountains isn't in such immediate peril from global warming after all. Despite previous studies suggesting a warmer climate is already taking a bite out of Washington's snowpack, there's no clear evidence that human-induced climate change has caused a drop in 20th century snow levels, according to a new study by University of Washington scientists.

Hato Abdul Hassan, 9 Nissan district council chairman, takes a drink of purified water from a tap at a water distribution site at Joint Security Station Al Khansa in eastern Baghdad, Aug. 3. Photo by Staff Sgt. Matthew Meadows. FORWARD OPERATING BASE LOYALTY — More than 500,000 Iraqi residents have purified water headed to their neighborhoods as Baghdad Water Authority officials, along with Iraqi leaders and leaders from the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad, opened a water distribution site at Joint Security Station Al Khansa in eastern Baghdad, Aug. 3. After officials opened the...

QALAT, Afghanistan, Aug. 5, 2008 – Provincial reconstruction team medics here introduced a water-sanitation process to village elders July 31 in the Shajoy district of Afghanistan’s Zabul province. A village elder sips purified water after Zabul Provincial Reconstruction Team medics introduced a new water-sanitation process July 31, 2008, in the Shajoy district of Afghanistan’s Zabul province. The team chose Shajoy to test run the process, which creates clean drinking water for 300 families or about 5,000 people at just $5 per month after start-up costs. U.S. Air Force photo by Capt. Jean Duggan, Zabul Provincial Reconstruction Team   (Click photo...

Ideas Planted in Darwin's Time In the nineteenth century, scientists were already observing that plant roots naturally seek out the wetter regions in soil. Although the phenomenon is well documented, scientists until recently had no clue as to how the mechanism worked, or how to make it better. New insights from the Tel Aviv University study could lead to plants that are super water seekers, say researchers.

Scientists exploring caves in the bone-dry and mostly barren Atacama Desert in Chile stumbled upon a totally unexpected discovery this week: water. They also found hundreds of thousands of animal bones in a cave, possibly evidence of some prehistoric human activity. The findings are preliminary and have not been analyzed. The expedition is designed to learn how to spot caves on Mars by studying the thermal signatures of caves and non-cave features in hot, dry places here on Earth. Scientists think Martian caves, some of which may already have been spotted from space, could be good places to look for...

Washington (AP) — The Senate voted Friday to ratify a compact to prevent the diversion of water from the Great Lakes, quickly approving legislation sought by the region's governors worried that thirsty places would covet one of the world's largest sources of fresh water.

The wildfires that have burned more than 1 million acres are the most visible symptom of another long, hot, dry summer in California. Less visible, though no less devastating, are the effects that the prolonged drought has on the state's water supply and environment. Although no one disagrees on the urgent need to fight the fires, there has long been sharp disagreement about how to address California's chronic water shortage. The time has come to break the stalemate. So, in the spirit of bipartisan cooperation, earlier this month we offered a compromise water bond package for the Legislature's consideration. We...

Splitting a few litres of water would be enough to power a home for a day, scientists claim. Scientists have found an inexpensive way to produce hydrogen from water, a discovery that could lead to a plentiful source of environmentally friendly fuel to power homes and cars. The technique, which mimics the way photosynthesis works in plants, also provides a highly efficient way to store energy, potentially paving the way to making solar power more economically viable. Hydrogen is a clean, energy-rich fuel that many experts believe could become important as nations attempt to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. The...

Attorney General Jerry Brown on Tuesday said he will sue to block a proposed water-bottling operation in Northern California unless its effects on global warming are evaluated.

In a discovery that could qualify as one of the most important in the history of space exploration, NASA’s Phoenix Mission may have confirmed the presence of water ice on the planet, Popular Mechanics has learned. The scheduling of a press conference for Thursday at 2 p.m. Eastern by NASA and the University of Arizona has raised hopes in the space community that scientists will announce the breakthrough. When pressed for details, a spokesperson for the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory refused to elaborate beyond saying that the Phoenix team would unveil new findings from the ongoing robotic mission to Mars....

AUSTIN, Texas—A chemical engineering professor at The University of Texas at Austin is part of a team that has developed a chlorine-tolerant membrane that should simplify the water desalination process, increasing access to fresh water and possibly reducing greenhouse gases. “If we make the desalination process more efficient with better membranes, it will be less expensive to desalinate a gallon of water, which will expand the availability of clean water around the world,” Professor Benny Freeman says. The research will be published July 28 in the German Chemical Society’s journal Angewandte Chemie. Freeman worked primarily with James E. McGrath of...

Engineers from Multi-National Division – Baghdad, as well as Civil Affairs Soldiers with 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, visited a water pump station in Adhamiyah July 23, to determine its viability to meet the peoples’ needs. Photo by Sgt. Zachary Mott, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs. BAGHDAD — More than two-thirds of the Earth is made up of water. But for the residents of northern Baghdad, water is one of the most precious resources – and an often scarce resource. While the ancient Tigris River flows a few miles away, many farmers in the...

Four Iraqi children enjoy some fresh drinking water that’s now available in their community in northern Basrah Province. USACE photo by A. Al Bahrani. BASRAH — Al-Zierji, a town located in northern Basrah Province, has fresh drinking water for the first time ever. “This is one of seven USACE water projects in the province,� said James Hodges, chief construction representative with the Gulf Region Division’s Basrah Area Office. “The $1.2 million reverse-osmosis plant is providing potable water for more than 20,000 Iraqis. It was completed June 20 and is now fully operational, producing 200 cubic meters per hour.�Salah Ali, chief...

When Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proclaimed a statewide drought in June and then urged passage of a $9.3 billion water bond, Democrats and environmental critics became suspicious. They still are. “Last year we did have record low rainfall, but whether or not there is a drought is somewhat debatable,” said the Sierra Club’s Jim Metropulos. “The governor calling it a drought--that carries no legal significance. It’s interesting he calls for a drought, and couple of weeks later, he calls for a water bond.” The Republican governor proposes a $9.3 billion dollar water bond for the November ballot, arguing that passage of...

One in ten households in England and Wales will fall into "water poverty" under plans to introduce meters for every home in Britain, a consumer group has warned. Millions of families, already suffering from rising food and fuel costs, face soaring bills, with some left up to £200 a year worse off by the Government plans, according to The Consumer Council for Water. Currently water companies can introduce "pay as you flow" meters in areas that are at a high risk of drought. The Government had long-term plans to introduce them into other areas by 2030. However a Government report...

BAGHDAD, July 23, 2008 – Water is a critical resource in the desert, and the water level at Camp Victory here has decreased significantly over the past few months, the result of an unseasonably dry winter that saw very little rain. Water from the Jaddriyah Pump Station is pumped into the Al Faw Lake on Camp Victory, Iraq. The water is used by personnel on the Victory Base Complex as well as the Iraqi people who live outside of the installation. U.S. Army photo by Maj. James Daffron, 926th Engineer Brigade  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The water...

BAGHDAD — Serving more than 2000 homes and businesses, two water networks at a cost of $2.6 million are almost complete in the Kadamiyah area of Baghdad. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Gulf Region Division, and the Baghdad Water Authority are working together to replace the old and damaged pipeline system in the Kadamiyah district to supply a better quality and quantity of water. According to the Gulf Region Central districts International Zone project engineer, Malath Al Rawas, approximately 17,000 linear meters of ductile iron water pipe was laid at each of the sites. Per Baghdad Water Authority requirements,...

The bleak report into the future of the Murray-Darling river system found the situation had become "critical". The system, which runs from Queensland in the country's north east to Victoria in the south, irrigates Australia's vast food bowl and drinking water to more than a million people. However, due to rising temperatures and a desperate lack of rain, inflows to the basin are at their lowest ever recorded levels. Climate change minister Penny Wong yesterday said the Murray Darling was "in real trouble". "We've had very low inflows, we've had a very dry June and the focus absolutely has to...

If G8 members, who recently agreed to carbon reductions that some consider lax, knew about one painful potential outcome of climate change, they might have demanded deeper cuts. Kidney stones will strike up to 2.25 million more Americans per year by 2050 because of temperature increases, research suggests. "We're certain that climate change will continue and increase, and we're equally certain that increased temperatures will lead to increased kidney stone formation," says Tom Brikowski, a hydrologist at the University of Texas, Dallas. The calcium deposits, which can be excruciating to expel from the body, are caused by dehydration and low...

County officials in a rural Ohio community are forking over $11 million to its Blacks (sic) residents. Why? Because for decades the county denied them the most basic necessity: water. According to a lawsuit filed in 2003 by the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, residents of the mostly-Black Coal Run community were forced collect rain water, haul water for cisterns and pay to have wells dug. "As a child, I thought it was normal because everyone done it in my neighborhood," Cynthia Hale Hairston, one of the plaintiffs, told The Associated Press. "But I realized as an adult it was wrong."...

(July 15, 2008) — Global warming is likely to increase the proportion of the population affected by kidney stones by expanding the higher-risk region known as the "kidney-stone belt" into neighboring states, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center and UT Dallas have found. Dehydration is one of the risk factors linked to kidney-stone disease, and the paper suggests global warming will exacerbate this effect. The researchers predict that by 2050, higher temperatures will cause an additional 1.6 million to 2.2 million kidney-stone cases, representing up to a 30 percent growth in some areas.

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - With water shortages in many areas of the country, learning to use water in the most efficient manner is more important than ever. To help promote smart use of this scarce resource, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Friday announced that it is accepting nominations for its annual water efficiency awards."We encourage organizations and individuals who are saving water, energy and money for our nation's families and communities to apply for the 2008 Water Efficiency Leader Awards," Benjamin H. Grumbles, EPA's assistant administrator for water, said in a statement. "Together, we are proving innovative technology...

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, July 11, 2008 – The wind blows hot and harsh across Forward Operating Base Sharana, pushing a wall of dust in front of it. Flags whip in protest to the treatment, and soldiers across the base squint behind their eye protection and pull caps down lower as dust devils spawn to brief, chaotic life around them. Air Force Staff Sgt. Benjamin Cisneros guides a new length of pipe into position while Staff Sgt. Rodolfo Pena and Staff Sgt. Randy Blount, all 1st Expeditionary RED HORSE Group well-drilling detachment team members, prepare to connect the new segment....

Many angry landowners have contacted us about a plan that, contrary to good public policy, will negatively impact property rights of rural Texans from Roberts to Jack County. The brand-new Roberts County Fresh Water Supply District No. 1, acting as an alter ego of businessman T. Boone Pickens and Mesa Power Pampa, LLC, has launched a private venture that may force landowners in 11 counties to submit to the power of eminent domain so they can pump water from the shrinking Ogallala Aquifer and sell wind-generated electricity. This new governmental entity is composed of only five people, all employees or...

SACRAMENTO – With scattered rationing punishing cities and farms statewide, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein Thursday jointly unveiled a $9.3 billion water bond proposal, convinced that fears over prolonged shortages and environmental collapse in the vital Sacramento delta will be enough to overcome resistance to building dams and a north-to-south delivery canal. Schwarzenegger, a Republican, and Feinstein, a Democrat, plan to aggressively push lawmakers to approve taking the bond measure to voters in November. The plan still faces tough odds. The ballot is already crowded with controversial initiatives addressing same-sex marriage, abortions for minors and caged farm...

A British company is claiming the hydrogen age could be a little closer after it unveiled a major innovation. The new hydrogen refuelling cell in action It has created a home filling station which would solve one of the biggest problems surrounding hydrogen powered cars It claims to have dramatically cut the cost of creating hydrogen and has developed a device the size of a fridge freezer which can fit in your garage and create its own supply of hydrogen. At the moment there are only three hydrogen filling stations in Britain and the cost of fully equiping the country...

PSYCHIATRISTS have detected the first case of "climate change delusion" - and they haven't even yet got to Kevin Rudd and his global warming guru. Writing in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, Joshua Wolf and Robert Salo of our Royal Children's Hospital say this delusion was a "previously unreported phenomenon". "A 17-year-old man was referred to the inpatient psychiatric unit at Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne with an eight-month history of depressed mood . . . He also . . . had visions of apocalyptic events." (So have Alarmist of the Year Tim Flannery, Profit of Doom Al...