Reports: All

The United Nations General Assembly declared in July 2010 that access to clean water and sanitation is an essential human right, calling on countries and organizations to help provide access for the 884 million people currently without safe drinking water and the more than 2.6 billion people without basic sanitation.

Since their creation in 1862, land-grant universities have revolutionized American agriculture. These public institutions delivered better seeds, new plant varieties and advanced tools to farmers who deployed scientific breakthroughs to increase agri­cultural productivity. They pioneered vitally impor­tant research on environmental stewardship, such as soil conservation. Land-grant universities partnered with farmers in research efforts, advancing rural livelihoods and improving the safety and abundance of food for consumers.

For the past 25 years, emissions trading, known more recently as “cap-and-trade,” has been promot­ed as the best strategy for solving pollution prob­lems. Based on an obscure economic theory that gained prominence in the 1960s at the University of Chicago, it was embraced by the Reagan administra­tion as a replacement for regulating air emissions. Since that time, it has gained acceptance among environmental organizations and the largest environmental funders.

Within the past decade, technological advances in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” have enabled the oil and gas industry to extract large quantities of oil and natural gas from shale formations in the United States. However, the practice has proven controversial. Pollution from modern drilling and fracking has caused widespread environ- mental and public health problems and created serious, long-term risks to underground water resources.

In this report, Food & Water Watch reviews the risks and costs of shale development that have been demonstrated in the United States, including economic costs that run counter to industry-backed claims about the economic benefits of the practice.

Food & Water Watch then summarizes the state of shale development in six selected countries: France, Bulgaria, Poland, South Africa, China and Argentina.

Europe Report: Within the past decade, technological advances in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” have enabled the oil and gas industry to extract large quantities of oil and natural gas from shale formations in the United States. However, the practice has proven controversial. Pollution from modern drilling and fracking has caused wide­spread environmental and public health problems and created serious, long-term risks to under­ground water resources.

In this report, Food & Water Europe reviews the risks and costs of shale development that have been demonstrated in the United States, including eco­nomic costs that run counter to industry-backed claims about the economic benefits of the practice.

Clean drinking water and wastewater treatment are basic services that societies and governments provide. Water is a necessity for life, and safe water and sanitation are crucial for public health. In July 2010, the United Nations declared access to clean water and sanitation to be a human right. But recognizing the human right to water does not explain how to deliver this right to households. Even with this commitment to enhance water delivery and safety, an estimated 884 million people worldwide lack access to safe water, and 2.6 billion lack access to improved sanitation.

Europe Report: Clean drinking water and wastewater treatment are basic services that societies and governments provide. Water is a necessity for life, and safe water and sanitation are crucial for public health. In July 2010, the United Nations declared access to clean water and sanitation to be a human right. But recognizing the human right to water does not explain how to deliver this right to households. Even with this commitment to enhance water delivery and safety, an estimated 884 million people worldwide lack access to safe water, and 2.6 billion lack access to improved sanitation.

Walmart is so big that it has an unprecedented amount of power in all sectors of the economy. Food is no exception. When there is one player this large connecting food producers and food consumers, consumers are no longer the food industry’s customers — Walmart is. And the saying “the customer is always right” has never been more appropriate.

Our current food system is broken, and it did not happen by accident. Many people do not have access to safe, nutritious, affordable food; many farmers can’t make a living; many regions of the country no longer produce the food they consume; and large-scale industrial agriculture pollutes our soil and water. Decades of misguided farm policy designed by agribusiness, combined with unchecked corporate consolidation, have wreaked havoc on family farmers, public health and rural communities.

The Cuomo administration is currently considering regulations that would allow widespread drilling and fracking for shale gas in New York. The regulations being considered are based on the state’s 1,537-page environmental impact analysis, which included a socioeconomic impact analysis with job and revenue projections for several different shale gas development scenarios in the state.

Food & Water Watch closely examined New York’s socioeconomic impact analysis and found that it does the people of New York a disservice. The New York analysis concluded that an “average” shale gas devel- opment scenario would bring 53,969 jobs, but only in the fine print of a footnote of the widely read factsheet is it mentioned that this is a 30-year projection.