Heart of Dryness: How the Last Bushmen Can Help Us Endure the Coming Age of Permanent Drought by James G Workman

$26.00

Hardcover

Hey, I just published an op-ed piece in AOL News on the links between BP's Deepwater oil spill offshore in salt water and the implications of a corrective energy policy that could pollute or dry up freshwater supplies inland. Here it is:

In his Oval Office speech on the BP oil spill, President Barack Obama tried to harness our pent-up outrage over the 2.5 million gallons of crude spewing daily into the Gulf of Mexico -- a sickening amount equal to an Exxon Valdez every four days -- to wean the nation's dependence on foreign oil.

Such focused and directed anger is welcome. And the White House energy bill, if revived by righteous fury, may help us reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming.

But in our rage we should not bleed one liquid asset to offset the damage caused by another. It would be a mistake if, to protect our rich and abundant seas, the U.S. quietly destroys our far more priceless and shrinking streams.

In short, don't dry up fresh water to save salt water.

Unfortunately, that's just what the energy bill would do. If enacted, it would, among other things, accelerate the switch from imported gasoline to domestic biofuels -- power from burning up the distilled calories in food -- to increase energy security. The result would be a switch from dependence on foreign oil to depletion of domestic water.

You can read the rest here. It was all a case of being in the right place (Red Room) at the right time, when Red Room staff linked me up with the AOL editors. Thank you!