Water Ya Gonna Do With Windfall Profits?
The Futurist May/June 2008 issue (if you’re reading this after then, check their archives) includes the cover feature article “Draining Our Future: The Growing Shortage of Freshwater” by Lester R. Brown. A free guest article at TreeHugger by Brown covers water shortages worldwide. It seems like the OPEC countries in the Middle East will be in a desperate state soon as they deplete their ground water.
Lester Brown founded the Worldwatch Institute, publisher of the annual State of the World books and he’s currently the President of the Earth Policy Institute. YouTube has speeches Brown made at Google, the Aspen Institute, etc. about his latest book, Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization, Third Edition
Brown’s solutions tend to require political power to implement. He advocates 2 megawatt wind turbines to replace coal burning electric plants. He recommends population stabilization, which he admits follows a rise in living standards. Lester Brown was pleased to report T. Boone Pickens is investing in wind power. That’s great if you’re the governor or a billionaire, but what should regular folks do besides contacting their Congresscritters or buying a share of wind stock?
The Guardian describes how individuals are profitably getting in on the act:
So he set about convincing neighbouring ranchers to join his scheme, promising them between $10,000 and $20,000 in annual royalties for every turbine they allowed on their land. They have all signed up, eager to cash in on this literal windfall. (Pickens, by contrast, refuses to have any of the turbines placed on his own ranch. “They are ugly!” he says, unashamedly.)
Here’s an upcoming LA Eco-Village event that teaches you how to capture and direct water on your own land.
Saturday, June 14, 2008 from 9 am - 3 pm at L.A. Eco-Village (Directions)
Water Catchment with Swales with Joe Linton
This workshop is part of a continuing series in “hands-on” urban permaculture and includes:
* An overview presentation on Los Angeles water issues, including local multi-benefit watershed management efforts.
* A tour of Los Angeles Eco-Village stormwater harvesting landscape features, including the Bimini Slough Nature Park.
* A hands-on workshop to build terraced swales to detain and infiltrate storm water.
Fee: $35 (sliding scale available)
Registration required: 213/738-1254 or crsp@igc.org (workshop size limited)
