The Environmental Debate, Third Edition

228 The Environmental Debate

ii. No surface water or groundwater

from outside the Basin is used to

satisfy any portion of subparagraph

(i) above except if it:

(a) Is part of a water supply and/

or wastewater treatment sys-

tem that combines water from

inside and outside of the Basin;

(b) Is treated to meet applicable

water quality discharge stand-

ards and to prevent the intro-

duction of invasive species into

the Basin;

(c) Maximizes the portion of water

returned to the Source Watershed

as Basin Water, and minimizes

the surface water or groundwater

from outside the Basin;

iii. All such Water returned meets all

applicable water quality standards.

c. The Proposal shall be subject to man-

agement and regulation by the Origi-

nating Party, regardless of its size.

Source: http://www.cglg.org/projects/compactimplementation/

Great Lake-St. Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water

Resources Agreement.

provided that, regardless of the volume of

Water transferred, all the Water so trans-

ferred shall be used solely for Public Water

Supply Purposes within the Straddling

Community.

* * *

Straddling Counties

3. A Proposal to transfer Water to a Commu-
   nity within a Straddling County that would
   be considered a Diversion under this Agree-
   ment shall be excepted from the prohibition
   against Diversions, provided that it satisfies
   all of the following conditions:
   a. The Water shall be used solely for the
   Public Water Supply Purposes of the
   Community within a Straddling County
   that is without adequate supplies of
   potable water.
   b. The Proposal meets the Exception
   Standard, with particular emphasis
   upon ensuring that:
   i. All Water Withdrawn from the
   Basin shall be returned, either nat-
   urally or after use, to the Source
   Watershed less an allowance for
   Consumptive Use;

DOCUMENT 160: Al Gore on the Politicization of Global

Warming (2006)

Since losing a highly contested election for president against George W. Bush in 2000, former vice president Al

Gore has galvanized public interest in the issue of global warming by means of his slide shows and his heavily

illustrated book and documentary film titled An Inconvenient Truth. Gore, who has long been interested in

environmental issues, published his first book on the subject, Earth in the Balance, in 1992 when he was a

senator.

As I’ve traveled around the world giving my
slide show, there are two questions I most often
get—particularly in the United States—from
people who already know how serious the crisis
has become... :
(1) “Why do so many people still believe this
crisis isn’t real?” and
(2) “Why is this a political issue at all?”

My response to the first question has been

to try to make my slide show—and now this

book—as clear and compelling as I can. As for

why so many people still resist what the facts

clearly show, I think, in part, the reason is that

the truth about the climate crisis is an incon-

venient one that means we are going to have to

change the way we live our lives. Most of these