Total Pageviews

Showing posts with label Nestlé's water privatization push. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nestlé's water privatization push. Show all posts

Saturday, April 25, 2015

Tell the U.S. Forest Service: Stop Nestlé’s illegal water extraction

Tell the U.S. Forest Service:

“Immediately halt Nestlé's illegal water withdrawals and stop allowing corporate water profiteering in drought-stricken areas."

Add your name:

Sign the petition ►

Save our Water
This is unbelievable. An investigation by the Desert Sun newspaper has revealed that the Nestlé corporation has been illegally pumping water out of a Southern California national forest for its bottled water with a permit that expired 27 years ago.1

That means for 27 years, Nestlé – the largest bottled water producer in the world – has been profiting by illegally extracting water in one of the most drought-stricken areas in the country, while the U.S. Forest Service – who issues and oversees these permits – has been totally asleep at the switch.

The Forest Service must immediately halt Nestlé’s water withdrawals and stop allowing corporate profiteering in the middle of California’s drought.

Tell the U.S. Forest Service: Stop Nestlé’s illegal water extraction. Click here to sign the petition.

As the world’s leading bottled water producer, and owner of the Perrier and San Pellegrino brands, Nestlé already has a dismal track record on water conservation and human rights. In 2013, Nestlé was forced to back down after fighting a decision in Ontario, Canada, that would limit its water extraction in times of severe drought. That same year, Nestlé’s CEO famously challenged the human right to water.2

No wonder Nestlé has continued to transport water out of the San Bernardino National Forest despite the fact that its permit expired in 1988.

We don’t know how much water Nestlé has been extracting for private profit because in 2009 the company stopped submitting annual reports to local water districts about the groundwater it extracted for its bottled water.3 And furthermore, no agency currently monitors the amount of water Nestlé has been illegally extracting from the San Bernardino National Forest, or its environmental impact.

What we do know is that Nestlé is profiting handsomely by extracting water from public lands. In Sacramento, for example, Nestlé pays the same rates for water as average residential users, and then turns around and sells this water for literally thousands of times more than it pays.4

During a time of increasing drought, this lack of oversight and blatant profiteering at the expense of the public interest is simply inexcusable. Tell the U.S. Forest Service it must immediately stop giving Nestlé a free pass to take our water.

Tell the U.S. Forest Service: Stop Nestlé’s illegal water extraction. Click here to sign the petition.

Thank you for your activism.
Elijah Zarlin, Campaign Manager
CREDO Action from Working Assets

Add your name:

Sign the petition ►
  1. "Bottling Water Without Scrutiny," The Desert Sun, March 8, 2015.
  2. "Organizations Denounce Nestlé’s New Human Rights Impact Assessment as a Public Relations Stunt," Food & Water Watch, December 19, 2013.
  3. "Little oversight as Nestlé taps Morongo reservation water," The Desert Sun, July 12, 2014.
  4. "Nestlé Continues Stealing Water During Drought," MintPress News, March 20, 2015
Related:

Nestlé's water privatization push

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Nestlé's water privatization push


Across the globe, Nestlé is pushing to privatize and control public water resources.

Nestlé's Chairman of the Board, Peter Brabeck, has explained his philosophy with "The one opinion, which I think is extreme, is represented by the NGOs, who bang on about declaring water a public right. That means as a human being you should have a right to water. That’s an extreme solution."
 
Since that quote has gotten widespread attention, Brabeck has backtracked, but his company has not. Around the world, Nestlé is bullying communities into giving up control of their water. It's time we took a stand for public water sources.

Tell Nestlé that we have a right to water. Stop locking up our resources!

At the World Water Forum in 2000, Nestlé successfully lobbied to stop water from being declared a universal right -- declaring open hunting season on our local water resources by the multinational corporations looking to control them. For Nestlé, this means billions of dollars in profits. For us, it means paying up to 2,000 times more for drinking water because it comes from a plastic bottle.

Now, in countries around the world, Nestlé is promoting bottled water as a status symbol. As it pumps out fresh water at high volume, water tables lower and local wells become degraded. Safe water becomes a privilege only affordable for the wealthy.

In our story, clean water is a resource that should be available to all. It should be something we look after for the public good, to keep safe for generations, not something we pump out by billions of gallons to fuel short-term private profits. Nestlé thinks our opinion is "extreme", but we have to make a stand for public resources. Please join us today in telling Nestlé that it's not "extreme" to treat water like a public right.

 

Tell Nestlé to start treating water like a public right, not a source for private profits!

 

http://action.storyofstuff.org/sign/nestle_water_privatization_push

 

Sources and further reading:

Nestlé: The Global Search for Liquid Gold, Urban Times, June 11th, 2013
Bottled Water Costs 2000 Times As Much As Tap Water, Business Insider, July 12th, 2013
Peter Brabeck discussion his philosophy about water rights

Related:

Tell the U.S. Forest Service: Stop Nestlé’s illegal water extraction