From the Editor

Several months after finishing author Maude Barlow’s fine book Blue Covenant, there’s a line I can’t get out of my head: “Farms, cities, and industries all over the world are … drilling deep into the Earth to pull up ancient aquifer waters for daily use.”

The same could be said for the way we use so many of the planet’s resources. We are relentlessly pushing into the forests to chop down ancient trees to make paper we’ll soon scrap. We are charging into secluded valleys to tear down ancient mountains for coal that will soon be burned up. We are plugging the earth full of holes to get at the ancient sunlight …more

Mirage

Climate Change Threatens to Dry Up the Southwest’s Future

by Jason Mark

Pink Water

Plastics, Pesticides, and Pills Are Contaminating Our Drinking Supply

by Holly Pyhtila

Manufacturing Thirst

The Hidden Water Costs of Our Industrial Economy

by Kari Lydersen