"These costs would be passed directly to property owners. That would mean hugely inflated water-tax bills for single-family homeowners - particularly in residential Queens and Brooklyn."
Capanile continued, "Even worse would be the impact on owners of rental properties. Unlike electricity or gas, there is no way to effectively measure per-apartment water use in a single-meter building. Thus, landlords would be stuck with the full burden of higher water and sewage rates— while being severely restrained by rent regulation from passing the costs along. This could drive marginal properties into bankruptcy."
Governor Spitzer said, "I'll be neutral while trying to negotiate a compromise between the Catskills developers and the city's interests."
Economic Development Over Public HealthSpitzer promised to champion economic development there.
Do you see how this kind of thinking drives our civilization over a cliff? In the face of water shortages or damages done to rivers as well as the environment, a sitting governor presses for more development. That means more destruction of the wild, which, in turn creates a cascading effect on everything in our environment.
Let's see how ironic, useless and pathetically inept our leaders show themselves as they pretend to face our future water dilemmas caused by overpopulation.
Do Our Leaders Understand Population's Impact on Environment?Newsweek, April 16, 2007, "Leadership and Environment" interviewed Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger "The Green Giant" with a picture of him puffing on a cigar. While he's filling his lungs with toxic chemicals from the stogie, 37 million Californians' cars, trucks, ships, power plants and homes fill the skies with enormous pollution exhaust.
Arnold promised to reduce California emissions in 2020 by 174 metric tons.
What didn't he promise? What didn't he address? What did he ignore?
California adds another 40 million people by 2050. What does that mean? It means that nothing will be solved. Every aspect of California's accelerating consequences will be multiplied by adding 40 million people.
Not One "Leader" in Newsweek Mentioned Root-CauseLater in Newsweek's presentation, they featured mayors of cities across America taking the lead. Again, none of their actions will work because none addresses the certain negative impacts of adding 100 million people in 33 years.
Newsweek's Karen Springen wrote, "Will Polar Bears Be OK?" Again, no mention of human overpopulation or stabilizing our numbers!
More People, More Combustion Engines, More Greenhouse GasesAnother Newsweek piece by Jessica Ramirez, "How to Live a Greener Life" presented wonderful methods for curbing billions of metric tons of greenhouse gases created in the US annually. As if trees can compete with millions of combustion engines burning 20 million barrels daily! They can't!
Newsweek continued with a report on China's water crisis caused by its staggering 1.3 billion people. Orville Schell reported, "The most dramatic national transformation in human history is being threatened by a lack of water. More than 70 percent of China's rivers are severely polluted. One can drive a hundred miles in any direction from Beijing and never cross a healthy river. Many rivers have dried up from human overuse. In 80 percent of rivers still flowing, water quality has been rated 'unfit for human contact' as well as agricultural or industrial use."
China; Wall-to-Wall PeopleI've traveled throughout China on my bicycle, up close and personal. It's wall to wall people. No let up. No end to it. Pollution! Compacted living! No escape! Modern Chinese want to be just like Americans; with more and more pollutants. Vicious circle!
At our current population growth, we follow China and India's disastrous footsteps as we grow toward 1 billion people in this century. Fifty years from now, the same report on China's enormous dilemma will be our nightmare in the West, especially, and throughout the United States.
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