energy and water

groundwater depletion

Depletion of groundwater reserves has more than doubled in recent decades as a result of population growth and the increased demand on groundwater reservoirs for drinking water and the irrigation of croplands.[read more]

pipeline construction/shutterstock

In the wake of this spill, there is strong public sentiment being heard regarding the proposed 800,000 bpd Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry the same Canadian crude to the Gulf Coast.[read more]

natural gas lease payment

 

The question is whether the U.S. has the capacity to significantly reduce the threats from fracking through regulatory safeguards. Or are there aspects that are so inherently dangerous that fracking should not be allowed at all?[read more]

Canadian water supply

As holders of 20 percent of the world’s fresh water, Canada is in a unique position to capitalize on the defining issue of the 21st century. In fact it is in a more dominant position with water than with oil.[read more]

L.Richarz, courtesy flickr

U.S. corporations are increasingly looking to sustainable water management standards that exceed the statutes of the Clean Water Act (CWA).  The CWA was passed 40 years ago on October 18th, 1972, it establishes the basic structure for regulating discharges of pollutants into U.S. waters. Although the CWA has not met its...[read more]

In the 2008 book, Dry Spring – the Coming Water Crisis of North America, Chris Wood detailed the scope of impacts we could anticipate as more volatile and extreme weather patterns become the norm. Wood, who continues to track climate change as a research collaborator, author and journalist, revisited the book in a recent interview, and...[read more]

Probably the hardest single category of concepts to communicate in energy and enviro issues involve the interconnected nature of the Earth System. The primary example of this is the energy water nexus, something I’ve written about numerous times, because I’m convinced it’s a gigantic problem and is also still poorly understood by many...[read more]

McKinsey & Company, the management consultant company whose advice was so helpful to ENRON, Swiss-air, Kmart, and Global Crossing, has now published a 185 page report on current and future world water shortages. McKinsey & Company is of course a darling of the Greens because of a previous report that suggested that huge amounts...[read more]