NOTES navigation:

BASICS

SPECIFICS

RECENT

ARCHIVE [currently viewing]

SEARCH

Currently viewing:

2010 > January > 04 > Water, revisited.

Water, revisited.

What if we ran out?

Not far into yesterday's Water. I was searching out a water image and bumped into a short piece by Matthew Yglesias. And a new thought I hadn't really considered about water and waste.

Hmmmm. If you believe that greens, generally, are part of the big picture of valuing our natural resources and using them more wisely (as I do), then it's not a great leap to consider Matthew's point.

Citing a Harvard Kennedy School of Government study that there's 'strong and consistent empirical evidence that using prices to manage water demand is more cost-effective than implementing non-price conservation programs,' he hones in on this:

In general, when you take something that's valuable—fresh water, space on an arterial highway at rush hour, the right to put carbon dioxide into the atmosphere—and give it a sub-market price, the result is overconsumption. Wasted water, polluted air, crowded highways, etc.

Sure, that's the bigger picture and fodder for a political debate. Still definitely worth a ponder by anyone who's alive on the planet and hoping to carry on that way.

As for me, I'll continue to conserve water as best I can… and I'll cultivate a new appreciation for every liquid drop as I up my own personal consumption of the wet stuff.

Filed by Kris on January 4 2010

« PREVIOUS ENTRY  NEXT ENTRY »

Currently viewing:

NOTES > 2010 > January > 04 > Water, revisited.