We heard about this when Atlanta was thirsty, but when that
crisis was averted, politics forgot the basics of life. As
climate change and worldwide shortages loom, will people fight
over water or join together to protect it? A global water
justice movement is demanding a change in international law to
ensure the universal right to clean water for all. It's a
colossal failure of political foresight that water has not
emerged as an important issue in the U.S. Presidential campaign.
The links between oil, war, and U.S. foreign policy are well
known. But water - whether we treat it as a public good or as a
commodity that can be bought and sold - will in large part
determine whether our future is peaceful or perilous. Americans
use water even more wastefully than oil. The U.S relies on non-
renewable groundwater for 50 percent of its daily use, and 36
states now face serious water shortages, some verging on crisis.
Meanwhile, dwindling freshwater supplies around the world,
inequitable access to water, and corporate