Paolo Bacigalupi Quotes

Having lived in the arid deserts of Southern California since the 1970s, my interest in water conservation is a very personal concern. Water! The source of life! Some people are squandering the world's most precious resource while others have too little clean water to drink.

Water is on the table for every single one us. When it's gone, game over. I don't care what company you run; I don't care if you're Republican or liberal.

Rather than forcing local factories to clean up after themselves, Changzhou decided to outsource the job of managing its water supply to a French company named Veolia - one of a handful of corporate giants now scrambling to take over city water systems around the planet, especially in the often polluted and water-short developing world.

Water's about everything. And when the federal government controls water, it controls everything - that's the problem.

Water links us all as human beings. Everyone needs water, and we all have challenges about it, no matter where we live. Yet even in the U.S., people aren't aware of problems facing water.

According to the U.N., more than 2.7 billion people will face severe water shortages by 2025. Many social scientists predict that the next big wars will be over water. Nevertheless, the average American family blissfully consumes 300 gallons a day, when you add in watering the lawn and washing dishes, clothes, and cars.

Truly, we do live on a 'water planet.' For us, water is that critical issue that we need. It's the most precious substance on the planet, and it links us to pretty much every environmental issue, including climate change, that we're facing.

Water, like many other resources, is harvested, transported and used throughout all aspects of society. Unlike other resources, water is critical to the survival of all forms of life. The underlying question that sits at the core of my exploration is to what degree can we shape water before it begins to shape us.

The water issue is critically related to climate change. People say that carbon is the currency of climate change. Water is the teeth.

What's happening on the Colorado River is happening all over the world. The water is overused, overdammed, and it's polluted in some places.

The two defining issues of this century are both universal but felt locally: the global water crisis and the resources boom.

We buy a bottle of water in the city, where clean water comes out in its taps. You know, back in 1965, if someone said to the average person, 'You know in thirty years you are going to buy water in plastic bottles and pay more for that water than for gasoline?' Everybody would look at you like you're completely out of your mind.

There is a liquid more precious than oil – water!

The poor people drink water which is very good and very common in this country.

Water is the worst thing to privatize. It’s what we need to live.

I have little need to remind you that water has become one of our major national concerns.

Clearly, we need to rethink our attitudes about water and move away from thinking of it as nearly a free good and a God-given right.

No water equals no life. We can have no oil; it's fine. No water - there is no plan b with no water.

Wherever you disrupt water from its natural cycle, there's always a winner and a loser. Whoever is the one it's directed towards is the winner, and whoever loses that water is the loser.

The water system in this country is overwhelmed, and we aren't putting enough resources towards this essential resource. We simply can't continue to survive with toxic drinking water.

Fresh, clean water cannot be taken for granted. And it is not - water is political, and litigious. Transporting water is impractical for both political and physical reasons, so buying up water rights did not make a lot of sense to me, unless I was pursuing a greater fool theory of investment - which was not my intention.

Water is one of the most basic and vital requirements for survival. And with the issue of water shortage aggravating every single day, it's just something I felt we had to address and spread the message on whatever level we can.

People are saying that the next war will be about water. Let's make sure there will be no next war, and let's make sure that we treat water the way it deserves.

I do believe that clean water is the most efficient way to change the world.

Saying I took my clean water for granted is an overstatement. To tell you the truth, I didn't even think about it.