"Passionate and cogent, this could be the most important book of the year for Canadians. We are complacent. We bask in the idea that Canada holds 20% of the world’s fresh water ― water crises face other countries, but not ours. We could not be more wrong. In Boiling Point, bestselling author and activist Maude Barlow lays bare the issues facing Canada’s water reserves, including long-outdated water laws, unmapped and unprotected groundwater reserves, agricultural pollution, industrial-waste dumping, boil-water advisories, and the effects of deforestation and climate change. This will be the defining issue of the coming decade, and most of us have no idea that it is on our very own doorstep. Barlow is one of the world’s foremost water activists and she has been on the front lines of the world’s water crises for the past 20 years. She has seen first-hand the scale of the water problems facing much of the world, but also many of the solutions that are being applied. In Boiling Point, she brings this wealth of experience and expertise home to craft a compelling blueprint for Canada’s water security."--
Record details
ISBN:9781770413559 (paperback)
Physical Description:xvi, 293 pages ; 22 cm regular print print
1. A History of Neglect and Abuse -- 2. A Federal Government Missing in Action -- 3. First Nations on the Front Line -- 4. Where Oil Meets Water -- 5. Hewers of Wood, Drawers of Water - 6. Agribusiness Imperils Water -- 7. Water for Sale -- 8. The Corporate Free Trade Threat to Canada's Water -- 9. A Blue and Just Canada Is Possible.
PW Annex Reviews : Publishers Weekly Annex Reviews Few know water issues better than Barlow, the author of the Blue Water trilogy and cofounder of the Blue Planet Project, an international water rights group . She was the first advisor on water to the Secretary General of the United Nations from 2008 to 2009. Focusing on her home country, she writes that Canadians are complacent when it comes to their water. The country is home to roughly 20% of the world's fresh water, and Barlow fears that Canadians are unaware of threats to their water supply, stating that it is mismanaged by nearly all levels of government, mistreated by many corporations and businesses, and misrepresented as an indefatigable and still pristine natural resource. Barlow argues these points convincingly, but her reliance on statistics and studies makes for dry reading at times, especially when sections overlap and points are reiterated. However, Barlow injects life into the book by including various success (and failure) stories of communities, groups, and individuals who have fought battles over water issues, as well as by expressing her own zeal for the matter. As interest grows in water as a commodity, Barlow's book is timely and will resonate with environmentalists, those interested in international trade, and anyone wondering just where Canada stands on the possible impending water crisis. (Sept.) Copyright 2016 Publisher Weekly Annex.
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