Maude Barlow and Tony Clarke are both activists of preservation of the ecosystem and in this book, they establish a common theme: The world is running out of fresh water.
The authors, however, bring into focus the following strong points: the effects of water pollution created by industrial wastes, control of water by corporate institutions, and privatization of fresh water.
Maude Barlow and Tony Clarke educate the populace on the critical importance of fresh water and report on issues that can help conserve this precious commodity.
Theme: The world is running out of water
This is the main message that is driven across by the authors. The authors however, acknowledge that some industrialized countries in the 21st century have worked hard to conserve water. Barlow and Clarke assert that “unlike people living in the urban, industrialized nations of the 21st century, most humans throughout history knew that their water resources could run out…” (3).
However, the authors insist that it is the corporate control that is threatening the running out of water. “Corporate control of the world’s water resources and distribution systems is a threat to the well-being of humans around the world because water is fundamental to life” (Barlow & Clarke 4).
The authors make a point that there is availability of water, but this may not be celebrated for long. This means that while it is common knowledge that water is essential to the living of humans, some corporate organization are going their own ways to deplete this precious commodity.
However, as would be noted in the discussion that follows, the authors fail in some aspect to bring out the much needed elements on water conservation.
Water pollution by organizations
The authors point out that it is the corporate organizations that are the enemies of water conservation and prevalence of fresh water. Some of these companies are technological companies; for example, the computer industries.
The argument furthered by the authors is that there is need to put such kind of companies on notice on the need to conserve water since “…the high-tech computer industry has also become a key target in campaigns against water pollution in places like Silicon Valley and Phoenix, Arizona” (Barlow & Clarke, 196).
This point is strong in that it points out the need to control the proliferation of companies whose aims are to deplete fresh water while polluting water. Barlow & Clarke (195) quote, “In recent years, the proliferation of industrial hog farms has also become a major issue for water-quality campaigns.”
This point is strong in the sense that awareness is raised to relevant authorities on the need to control such a proliferation of companies that are not mindful of possible running out of fresh water.
However, the authors do not put an analysis of how best to put this problem to rest. While the authors mention of a legal assault that was launched on large factories in the year 2000 in America, there is no big mention of how best to prevent such kind of companies from being formed.
Better still, there are no clear guidelines on how such companies can be put to notice of dire consequences should they persist with pollution of fresh water in America.
Control of water by big companies
Control of water has been put to big companies, especially companies that produce pesticides, oil and chemical fertilizers. This control of water by huge companies has become a growing problem in any country, and common citizens have begun to feel the reeling effects of this counter action.
Barlow and Clarke note some of the concerns of citizens and when they observe that “…a group of farmers, ranchers, and concerned citizens in Alberta was formed in 1999 to challenge the oil industry’s heavy use of fresh water aquifers to pressure-up oil fields…” (194).
When citizens take matters into their own hands, it becomes a widespread issue and other relevant parties may chip in to help.
Therefore, this position taken by Barlow and Clarke is important to the overall concern of water depletion especially by big companies. In fact, the authors have pointed that this concern by citizens has reached relevant government agencies such as the Alberta Department of Environment (Barlow & Clarke 195).
However, this point is weak and may not really assist as one of the measures that should be taken to conserve endangered waters. In addition, the authors fail to bring up a point of how controlling authorities can help relinquish the control of water by these big companies.
Indeed, the authors ought to have taken the matter all by themselves and give a statement of how the government can help. The most outstanding report offered by the two authors is basically what concerned parties are doing rather than going a notch higher to protect this commodity.
As pointed out earlier, the authors are activists in the conservation of ecosystem and therefore, in such a matter of control by big companies, they would have used their activist nature to raise the matter.
Privatization of fresh water
The authors argue that the main issue that has helped in the control and pollution of fresh water by big companies is the fact that it is managed by government agencies. Here then, the authors argue that the best way to go about this is privatization of this commodity.
One such example is the privatization of water in the year 2001 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The latter has been noted to be a success story since then (Barlow & Clarke 101).
This is a very strong point that the authors bring in this discussion and opens the eyes of people and relevant agencies on how best to conserve water. It is arguable that privatized water bodies may not be prone to misuse by companies with vested interest.
The authors are point on to offer a solution to such a big problem and it can only be praised. It is also possible that such an initiative would bring other problems such as high prices down.
Nonetheless, we should not fail to point out that privatization may not solve every single challenge being faced in water conservation, and in actual sense, it may open another window of misusing the very resource.
Therefore, this measure is only applicable in some instances especially when there is need to seek urgent solution to emergencies, but may not be a long time solution. As a matter of fact, Barlow and Clarke (102) deliberate that the lowering of prices did not go for long since it was reversed for purposes of making monetary gains in terms of profit.
Work Cited
Maude, Barlow & Tony Clarke. Blue Gold: The Battle against Corporate Theft of the World’s Water. Toronto: Stoddart Publishing Co. Limited, 2003.