The New Oil
NEW OIL ESSAY
Water is a resource lots of people take for granted. When water starts to become more scarce throughout time, who should take control over it? Public companies? Or Private? I believe the answer to this dilemma is that public companies should mostly take control of the water system but still work with private companies to benefit the water supply the most. They should mostly control the water supply because I think that private companies won’t be able to handle the water resources properly. According to the article “The New Oil” by Jeneen Interlandi, private companies don’t understand how important the conservation of water means to the survival of the human race and all the animals and plants on earth. Wars will start because water is running out, killing millions of people. If water runs out, everyone will die, completely destroying the earth’s ecosystem because everything needs water. It is a scarce, inelastic resource that needs to be handled with the utmost care. One of the reasons water should be controlled more by public companies than private companies is because water is a scarce resource and it will become even scarcer if it becomes privatized. “…Private water companies usually have very little incentive to encourage conservation; after all, when water use falls, revenue declines” (46) is a quote that shows that the water supply will become more scarce if private companies control it. If the companies don’t encourage the conservation of water, then everyone will never see how scarce water actually is and continue to waste it. They think that it will always be there when they need it. “Turn on any tap, and it comes rushing out, clean and plentiful, even in the arid Southwest, where the Colorado River Basin is struggling through its 11th year of drought; in most cities a month’s supply still costs less than premium cable or a generous cell-phone plan” (42). But if they don’t conserve it, the water will run out faster that it’s supposed to.
Water is a resource lots of people take for granted. When water starts to become more scarce throughout time, who should take control over it? Public companies? Or Private? I believe the answer to this dilemma is that public companies should mostly take control of the water system but still work with private companies to benefit the water supply the most. They should mostly control the water supply because I think that private companies won’t be able to handle the water resources properly. According to the article “The New Oil” by Jeneen Interlandi, private companies don’t understand how important the conservation of water means to the survival of the human race and all the animals and plants on earth. Wars will start because water is running out, killing millions of people. If water runs out, everyone will die, completely destroying the earth’s ecosystem because everything needs water. It is a scarce, inelastic resource that needs to be handled with the utmost care. One of the reasons water should be controlled more by public companies than private companies is because water is a scarce resource and it will become even scarcer if it becomes privatized. “…Private water companies usually have very little incentive to encourage conservation; after all, when water use falls, revenue declines” (46) is a quote that shows that the water supply will become more scarce if private companies control it. If the companies don’t encourage the conservation of water, then everyone will never see how scarce water actually is and continue to waste it. They think that it will always be there when they need it. “Turn on any tap, and it comes rushing out, clean and plentiful, even in the arid Southwest, where the Colorado River Basin is struggling through its 11th year of drought; in most cities a month’s supply still costs less than premium cable or a generous cell-phone plan” (42). But if they don’t conserve it, the water will run out faster that it’s supposed to.