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"This legislation will safeguard against diversion and misuse of the globally-significant waters of the Great Lakes. Such protections will create jobs, improve the economy and enhance quality of life."

Obviously they aren't thinking of the quality of life of people experiencing water shortages who would benefit from the Great Lakes water. But there is also a general sense in environmental circles that bodies of water are like a modern-day commons and that we must avoid letting the water that comes from them, be turned into a commodity that can be bought, sold, and traded. Read Milloy's book and you'll find a lengthy argument in favor of another explanation. Many environmentalists feel that the only way ultimately to save the planet is to reduce our standard of living and thus our total environmental impact and the way we do that is through methods like using less water, never by producing more of it.

Of course, another still larger source of water is the ocean. The problem here is that the ocean is a bit too salty to be useful! Fortunately, desalinization technology is available and is especially popular in the dry Middle East. But, environmentalist groups often oppose this too. The Sierra Club lists on its website "Guidelines for Desalination Projects," and states that "Desalination should not be used for water supply needs that can be met by water conservation, water recycling and other water use efficiency practices." You got that? If you can get by just using less water, you should be doing that before you tap into that gigantic resource down the road.

For some more information on environmental opposition to desalinization projects and a whole lot more information on the modern green movement, see Milloy's book, "Green Hell."

Learn more about this author, David Shane.
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