Opinion: Arizona utilities deplete our water resources
“Water is Life,” was the Lakota rallying cry at Standing Rock as thousands weathered severe freezing conditions to stop an oil pipeline threat to their water. In Arizona water is life too but here we’re way beyond having our water resources threatened. They’re right now being needlessly and excessively plundered for corporate profit as the Arizona Corporation Commission rolls out the red carpet for fossil fuel energy, depletes our precious water resources and ends up maximizing utility shareholders’ dividends. Now most of us can wrap our heads around this — burning fossil fuels to make electricity causes and worsens climate change, but it’s harder to wrap your head around just how much water is consumed in the process. Here’s how much water is used by different energy sources to produce 1 megawatt hour of electricity.
-Written by Rick Rappaport, a member of Tucson Climate Coalition, Tucson Chapter of Citizens Climate Lobby and Arizonans for Community Choice Energy