Water wrongs

I've posted here before about a fantastically irritating woman called Maude Barlow.  She styles herself as the Chair of something called the Council of Canadians, of which she is the founder and, to all intents and purposes, the only significant member. She's what's called an "activist", which means she likes telling other people what to do (or more often, what not to do) but is unwilling to seek elected office. She's a busybody.

When I last wrote about Ms Barlow, she was railing against plans for a west-to-east pipeline to carry Alberta crude oil to refineries in Quebec and Atlantic Canada.  She's implacably opposed to oil sands development, so you'd naturally assume she's in favour of alternative forms of energy, right? Don't be so sure: today she pitched up in the op ed pages of the Toronto Star, arguing against plans for a wind farm north of Toronto.

Said wind farm is to be built on an area known as the Oak Ridges Moraine. This used to be a wilderness area north of Toronto, atop a large aquifer. Truth to tell, as far as preserving the Moraine from development goes, the train left the station years ago.  Toronto's unending urban sprawl has seen large tracts of the area covered by housing, shopping malls and all the rest of the signs of Canadian civilization.  However, Maude has been persuaded to join a local campaign against the wind farm, on the basis that it poses a threat to Ontario's water supplies.

According to Ms Barlow and her co-author, the Moraine is "the rain barrel of southern Ontario". At this point, if you're not familiar with the geography of the region, you might want to consult a map. If you want to find the Moraine, you'll need a very detailed one, but even a very large-scale map will make it quite apparent that southern Ontario is replete with fresh water. Lakes Erie and Ontario border the province to the south, and Lake Huron/Georgian Bay to the west. Drive about a hundred kilometers north of Toronto and you'll find yourself entering a region of lakes, literally thousands of them, stretching all the way up to the Arctic Circle.

Given these facts, calling the Moraine the region's "rain barrel" is absurd, but typical of the kind of exaggerations that Maude Barlow always falls back on to make her points.  There's no excuse for thoughtlessly damaging the Moraine -- though I'd say the houses and malls have already taken care of that -- but there's no reason it can't withstand a little bit of careful development.

The little bio of Maude Barlow at the end of the article notes that she served as a senior adviser on water to the UN General Assembly. In that case you'd think she'd know that it's unlike other resources, because you can't use it up. There's still the same amount of water on Earth that there's been since the planet cooled after the Big Bang. That doesn't mean there are no issues with water:  we need to ensure that there's enough potable water in the right places, as task that's getting more difficult by the year.  But we're never actually going to run out if it.

Ms Barlow proposes four principles for a new "water ethic". Let's just look at a couple. "Water is a human right and must be more equitably shared".  Sounds fair, but it's actually a totally hypocritical statement when Ms Barlow makes it.  As I've already noted, Ontario is blessed with abundant fresh water supplies. At the same time, large tracts of the western United States are facing long-term water shortages. Time for some equitable sharing, then? You can bet your firstborn child that if any Canadian politician dared to suggest such a thing, the first person to screech in protest would be Maude Barlow, for whom implacable anti-Americanism is a core principle.

Or how about this "principle": "water has rights, too". Wow -- who knew? Does all water have the same rights, or is it different for fresh and salt? Next thing you know it'll be getting itself a lawyer, or maybe making plans to take part in next year's Pride Parade.