| Unquenchable: America's Water Crisis and What to Do about It Contributor(s): Glennon, Robert Jerome (Author) |
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ISBN: 159726816X ISBN-13: 9781597268165 Publisher: Island Press OUR PRICE: $33.25 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: September 2010 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Nature | Natural Resources - Science | Earth Sciences - Hydrology - Technology & Engineering | Environmental - Water Supply |
| Dewey: 363.610 |
| Physical Information: 1.02" H x 6.34" W x 8.96" (1.31 lbs) 432 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: In the middle of the Mojave Desert, Las Vegas casinos use billions of gallons of water for fountains, pirate lagoons, wave machines, and indoor canals. Meanwhile, the town of Orme, Tennessee, must truck in water from Alabama because it has literally run out. Robert Glennon captures the irony--and tragedy--of America's water crisis in a book that is both frightening and wickedly comical. From manufactured snow for tourists in Atlanta to trillions of gallons of water flushed down the toilet each year, Unquenchable reveals the heady extravagances and everyday inefficiencies that are sucking the nation dry. The looming catastrophe remains hidden as government diverts supplies from one area to another to keep water flowing from the tap. But sooner rather than later, the shell game has to end. And when it does, shortages will threaten not only the environment, but every aspect of American life: we face shuttered power plants and jobless workers, decimated fi sheries and contaminated drinking water. We can't engineer our way out of the problem, either with traditional fixes or zany schemes to tow icebergs from Alaska. In fact, new demands for water, particularly the enormous supply needed for ethanol and energy production, will only worsen the crisis. America must make hard choices--and Glennon's answers are fittingly provocative. He proposes market-based solutions that value water as both a commodity and a fundamental human right. One truth runs throughout Unquenchable: only when we recognize water's worth will we begin to conserve it. |
Contributor Bio(s): Glennon, Robert Jerome: - Robert Glennon is Regents' Professor and Morris K. Udall Professor of Law and Public Policy in the Rogers College of Law at the University of Arizona. He is the author of Water Follies: Groundwater Pumping and the Fate of America's Fresh Waters (Island Press, 2002) and Unquenchable: America's Water Crisis and What to Do about It (Island Press, 2009). Glennon has been a guest on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Talk of the Nation with Neal Conan, The Diane Rehm Show, C-SPAN2's Book TV, and numerous National Public Radio shows. He has been a commentator for American Public Media's Marketplace. He is featured in the recent documentary, Last Call at the Oasis. Glennon's other writings include pieces in the Washington Post, New York Times, Boston Globe, Bloomberg Businessweek, Arizona Republic, and Wall Street Journal. Glennon has received two National Science Foundation grants and has served as an adviser to governments, law firms, corporations, and nongovernmental organizations on water law and policy. He is also a regular commentator and analyst for various television and radio programs and for the print media. His speaking schedule has taken him to more than thirty states and to several countries (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and Switzerland). In 2010, the Society of Environmental Journalists gave Unquenchable a Rachel Carson Book Award for Reporting on the Environment, and Trout magazine gave it an Honorable Mention in its list |