about damn time...an update
To save some of you the trouble of reading my insufferable bitching, I've kindly decided to use lj cuts. ENjoy.
Ice mountain bottled water, owned by Nestle has been bottling Michigan water at an alarming rate. The residents of Mecosta county Michigan are facing a water shortage. The ground water they've relied on the last 200 years is suddenly drying up because of Nestle's water extraction practices. Many residents are forced to buy back the water that is rightfully theirs from the company. The lake levels in the area have also dropped over a foot in the last year. I guess I shouldn't be so shocked; a corporation exploiting natural resources for a profit, happens all the time. This time my anger is directed at the elected officials running the state. Michigan is the ONLY state in the great lakes that doesn't regulate the amount of water exported, so big corporations can come to michigan and take as much water as they please; often times at the expense of the residents. My initial thought was that politicians are getting kick-backs from nestle, or the state must be benefiting in SOME way, but no. The state makes no money off of this bottling operation, and thanks to economic incentives Nestle doesn't have to pay taxes for 10 or 12 years. The residents of michigan aren't making any money from this operation either. The contracting of the pipeline was done with a florida based company, the materials for the operation are all manufactured out of state, only 60 jobs were created. Michigan is facing an unemployment crisis ( the rapidly disappearing manufacturing jobs and booming 8% unemployment rate) and it seems like the only solutions officials come up with are to export our water and import trash from surrounding states and even Canada. I suppose putting lots of landfills near large bodies of fresh drinking water is a good idea.
I've spent the last two weeks attempting to educate people on the matter and encourage them to put pressure on their leaders to stop this. I've wasted the last two weeks. People are lazy and apathetic. They are so concerned with scratching their asses and watching their idiot box than having a meaningful impact on the world. I was hoping to get alot of NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) support, but nope. Granted the area I've been assigned to canvass is urban sprawl $500,000 property country and most of those people buy into the consumer culture. I was almost in tears one night after counting 10 Hummers on one street. It's pretty fucking difficult to get people who drive Hummers to care about the environment. I have had a few good experiences on the job: the best by far was this one lady who came out half suited in a dominatrix outfit. I also chewed some guy out when he got Clean Water Action Canvaser confused with prostitute. Apparently the only way he could care about the environment is if I slept with him.
in other news...I've started summer classes, the house across the yard got broken into last week, police are clueless as usual and I'm oh so broke once again, luckily payday is friday.
Ice mountain bottled water, owned by Nestle has been bottling Michigan water at an alarming rate. The residents of Mecosta county Michigan are facing a water shortage. The ground water they've relied on the last 200 years is suddenly drying up because of Nestle's water extraction practices. Many residents are forced to buy back the water that is rightfully theirs from the company. The lake levels in the area have also dropped over a foot in the last year. I guess I shouldn't be so shocked; a corporation exploiting natural resources for a profit, happens all the time. This time my anger is directed at the elected officials running the state. Michigan is the ONLY state in the great lakes that doesn't regulate the amount of water exported, so big corporations can come to michigan and take as much water as they please; often times at the expense of the residents. My initial thought was that politicians are getting kick-backs from nestle, or the state must be benefiting in SOME way, but no. The state makes no money off of this bottling operation, and thanks to economic incentives Nestle doesn't have to pay taxes for 10 or 12 years. The residents of michigan aren't making any money from this operation either. The contracting of the pipeline was done with a florida based company, the materials for the operation are all manufactured out of state, only 60 jobs were created. Michigan is facing an unemployment crisis ( the rapidly disappearing manufacturing jobs and booming 8% unemployment rate) and it seems like the only solutions officials come up with are to export our water and import trash from surrounding states and even Canada. I suppose putting lots of landfills near large bodies of fresh drinking water is a good idea.
I've spent the last two weeks attempting to educate people on the matter and encourage them to put pressure on their leaders to stop this. I've wasted the last two weeks. People are lazy and apathetic. They are so concerned with scratching their asses and watching their idiot box than having a meaningful impact on the world. I was hoping to get alot of NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) support, but nope. Granted the area I've been assigned to canvass is urban sprawl $500,000 property country and most of those people buy into the consumer culture. I was almost in tears one night after counting 10 Hummers on one street. It's pretty fucking difficult to get people who drive Hummers to care about the environment. I have had a few good experiences on the job: the best by far was this one lady who came out half suited in a dominatrix outfit. I also chewed some guy out when he got Clean Water Action Canvaser confused with prostitute. Apparently the only way he could care about the environment is if I slept with him.
in other news...I've started summer classes, the house across the yard got broken into last week, police are clueless as usual and I'm oh so broke once again, luckily payday is friday.