IBM is addressing water resources as part of its Smarter Planet/Think marketing campaign. In a campaign media release today, IBM VP Sharon Nunes said that,
“Without sufficient insight into near- and long-term factors affecting your water supply and usage — complex issues such as access, quality, cost and re-use — you increasingly run the risk of failure.”
A reasonable sentiment — until you get to the end of the media release which reads:
“Together with IBM, The Nature Conservancy is developing computer tools that will enable companies to gain a better understanding of the environmental and social consequences of their water use. By fostering sustainable water management practices, companies and municipalities will be able to make better decisions to the benefit of both local communities and nature.” — Brian Richterb, Director of The Nature Conservancy’s Global Freshwater Team.
Translation: The greens are looking to IBM technology to help them reduce our access to water.
Steve Milloy’s new book, Green Hell: How Environmentalists Plan to Control Your Life and What You Can Do to Stop Them, discusses how the greens are working to make us thirsty.
A market challenge pertaining to prudent societal uses of water is it can be underpriced, owing to government ownership of water supplies. If supply of water is cheaper than its cost of provision, then it can be inefficiently or unsustainably used. Water markets can be strengthened by privatization.