America claims ownership of 782,000 square miles of the Pacific Ocean

by Dr. Samori Swygert

I hate saying, “I told you so,” so I’m moving along as planned…  A front page, above the fold article in the June 17th Washington Post, revealed the United States plan to expand our claim over the world’s oceans. According to the article, President Obama has addressed the plan at a meeting. He detailed how a vast portion of the Pacific Ocean will now be off limits.

The impetus that’s driving the proposal is to preserve a precious section of the Pacific Ocean. Supposedly, this section has some of the most purest water on earth, it’s devoid of pollution.  The proposal will also prevent fishing, energy exploration, and “other activities.”  There is an open comment period in which the public can submit concerns and issues for the administration to review.

The terminologies that the administration is using to refer to this vast expanse of water are “sanctuaries and monuments.” Currently, America has claim over 87,000 square miles of the ” Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument.”  President Obama will expand this to 782,000 square miles.  The article also says, ” The ocean area under consideration, by contrast, encompasses uninhabited islands in a remote region with sparse economic activity.”

Early last week, I wrote an in-depth 2-part article called New World Water: Part 1 and Part 2.  I illuminated the fact that nations and multinational corporations are laying claim to the world’s water supply.  There was a 2014 Global Water Summit in Paris, France that the TV media failed to cover back in April, and the newspapers failed to give any fanfare or attention.  This only confirms my assertions and position about the summit.  This appears to be one of many sequential steps in complete global dominance.

It’s ironic that only two months after the 2014  Global Water Summit, President Obama seeks to expand the designation and demarcation of America’s “claim” in the Pacific Ocean.  The article I wrote addressed only a few topics from the Global Water Summit such as: purchasing water rights,  developing water management systems, imposing water restriction policies, and how to develop profitability policies.  I’m certain there was more to the summit, but it was an exclusive meeting, and the specific material would only be divulged to entities privileged or authorized to attend.

The Washington Post article also reports that the British government is also creating a “marine sanctuary’ in the Pacific, and the president of a Pacific Island nation of Kirbati said he will close an area “the size of California”  to commercial fishing by the end of 2014.  President Bush also set aside a claim in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands while he was in office.

The intentions appear noble and good because we are using terms like:  “conservation,” “preservation,” and “sustainability.” These terms sound good — they are audibly palatable and pleasing.  However, there is a fine line between conservation and imposing man-made limits of a natural resource required for human vitality. When America demarcates these geographical boundaries, who are we depriving of a resource?  Who gives us the authority to lay claim over the ocean, and who can/can’t fish in specific marine locales?  Why must other nations be restricted from one of the most purest portions of Earth’s oceans?

Understand Political Talk

We must specifically assess the verbiage in political speak.  What do they mean when they say “other activities” and “other threats”?  These are broad terms.  What will it entail, and require to enforce these boundaries?  Will this portion of the ocean be specifically untouched by everyone, or only our military and other governing bodies?  What’s the criteria for use if this section of water is needed?

I will attach the Washington Post article, my article on the NEW WORLD WATER  and the Global Water Summit of 2014, also note that the U.S. Military has developed a way to create Jet Fuel from seawater.

Are we exercising  “maritime manifest destiny”?…what are your thoughts?

 Click Here to Read New World Water Parts 1 and 2

Sources: 1, 2, 3

New World Water Part 2: The 2014 Global Water Summit (Click here to read Part I)

by Dr. Samori Swygert

What does it mean to you when heads of major hedge funds and private equity firm managers speculate on the profitability of water?

First, I’d like to be fair and address the current need for water management:

Reasons that water management should be exercised

We’ve witnessed oil spills like the Exxon Valdez and the BP oil spill. We’ve also seen millions of gallons of toxic coal ash leak into North Carolina’s Dan River and the toxic spill into West Virginia’s drinking water supply. We’ve also witnessed and continue to hear about the nuclear spill from the Fukushima Nuclear Reactor, which has made way to the west coast. Portions of Iowa and other states that rely on agricultural commerce have seen a pervasive infiltration of nitrates into their water supply from fertilizer. We’ve witnessed an increase in water deficits in drought-prone areas throughout the Midwest to California. Many remember Shane Snyder, an ecological toxicologist who elucidated the increase of feminized male marine life in Lake Mead (Nevada), the Potomac River (DC), Denver, and California.  This phenomena was occurring due to “traces of codeine, Prozac, Valium, common antibiotics, insect repellents and a host of chemicals termed endocrine disruptors into the Lake Mead reservoir.”

Lastly, the Supreme Court recently said that ex-military and North Carolina plaintiffs couldn’t be rewarded from a lawsuit against an electronics company that is responsible for toxic contamination of drinking water at Camp Lejeune. The water was tainted with benzene, Trichloroethylene,  and other chemicals that led to generations of individuals with rare forms of leukemia, liver, kidney and other cancers…….Yes, mater Management and oversight are needed!

The technology

Big corporations have procured the best scientists and engineers to devise water treatment systems that multinational corporations are investing in, encouraging nations to adopt, and develop international standards. According to the agenda of the Global Water Summit of 2014, they’ve designed bacteria that breaks down waste, ultrafiltration membranes, advanced desalination systems, nanofiltration technology, hydrolysis, reverse osmosis systems and a myriad of other “solutions”.

My issues

When have you ever seen the privatization of earth’s natural resources turn out good? Throughout the Global Water Summit agenda, a specific theme is: Repetitive, Ubiquitous, and Diffuse. The theme is maximization of profit and how to impose this technology on nations and local municipalities for profit. I wouldn’t have a problem if the approach was noble in effort, but money and profit always pervert noble motives.

I believe this will evolve into a system of “hoard and ration.” The major corporations have hundreds of billions of dollars to sway politicians to present logical arguments on water conservation, but it will ultimately lead to “hydro-austerity.” The fact that this summit wasn’t even in the news or the traditional newspaper outlets speaks volumes. The exclusivity of the summit allows the privileged, wealthy, and powerful conglomerates to posture themselves for windfall profits because water is mandatory for life.

Examples of my hypothesis

California has already initiated proposals and standards to be imposed on its citizens. An article in the Sacramento Bee highlighted future mandates. “All urban water districts in California must decrease water usage per person at least 20 percent by 2020. By 2017, all pre-1994 homes must be retrofitted with low-flow plumbing fixtures in showers and toilets. The city faces a 2025 deadline under state law to finish metering all customers.” Furthermore, they are shrinking lot sizes of properties that are on the market to regulate water consumption.

These are means to reduce water consumption, but this will also lead to increase in water bills and taxes. The forced adoption of new water efficient technology is a pat on the back to the designers of the technology that attended the conference. They will get rich by imposing new laws and standards centered on the science and technology they developed and marketed around the globe.

How can we apply this knowledge of the Global Water Summit as African Americans?

The EPA said that we will need to spend at least $380 Billion dollars to upgrade our water infrastructure. Maybe we can get finance expert and scholar Dr. Boyce Watkins to explain how to invest in Tax Free Municipal Bonds that are set aside for the upgrades nationwide. Also, now is the time to thoroughly survey your property and find out if you’re sitting on water, and look into purchasing water rights too.

For comedy sake

We may have more water available if they didn’t waste so much hosing us down during civil rights protests. I also know that these company executives are studying how to charge us for water as they smoke cigars in their jacuzzi. Maybe all this depletion of water will eventually result in the recovery of Malaysian Flight 370 (yeah right!). I project that the division between the rich and poor will produce a real “Watergate” — rich on one side, and poor on the other. We need Moses to come and tap some of these rocks to spew forth some fresh water. Man I miss water balloon fights and Super Soakers.

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 (Part 1 of this article)

The New World Water part 1: The Global Water Summit of 2014

One of my favorite emcees is Mos Def. A while ago, he made a song titled “New World Water” on his first album. Now fast forward to 2014 and we realize that the record is more than just a song.

Water is a natural resource made available to all inhabitants on Earth. Many believe that the accessibility and availability of water is a human right. Now may be the time to reexamine these premises and assertions. Are you aware that the GLOBAL WATER SUMMIT OF 2014 just concluded this past April in Paris, France? Were you aware that they have GLOBAL WATER SUMMITS?

This summit is the “Who’s Who” of global executive leaders, private equity firms, hedge fund managers, technology strategists, and infrastructure development experts. Yes, the water we know, need, and love is currently being speculated on for venture capital investments as an emerging market.

The itinerary of the summit consisted of 45 sessions that addressed desalination, advanced water treatment technologies, water transport, developing public policies for urban water use, and devising sustainable water solutions in: Africa, Singapore, Israel, India, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Pakistan, and Bahrain.

Here are 5 titles of the 45 sessions that were presented

1. Water’s impact on Profitability, New Metrics Underpinning Investment in Water Management Programmes
2. Water conflict and peacemaking in Future Cities
3. Venture Capital Investments in Water: Ingredients to success
4. Technology investor focus: Which water treatment technologies are getting investors’ attention and why
5. Competition in the urban water supply chain: What are the emerging trends?

This is the lexicon of speculators. It sounds more than just sustainability and environmental conservation.

Why is this important?

Globally and domestically, there are companies and individuals that are buying up water rights. What are water rights?  When you purchase property, people typically think of acreage, square feet, and overall perimeters they will own. However, real estate savvy individuals recognize the importance of what is below your land. Your property may be pregnant with gold, oil, coal, water, and more. You can purchase the rights to own those resources below your property.

Some people own property but someone else may own the water rights to the H2O beneath it. Bloomberg Businessweek produced an article that detailed how the Royal Dutch Shell is buying groundwater rights in Colorado, Nestle is purchasing water rights throughout America, and investors in Australia are buying water rights and reselling it to farmers at a marked up value.

The article also details how an old Texas oil tycoon, T. Boone Pickens, owns 68,000 acres in the Texas Panhandle that sits on the Ogallala Aquifer that contains a QUADRILLION gallons of water. He projects that he will eventually sell 65 billion gallons a year to Dallas.

This is important because government agencies forecast that the demand for water will exceed the supply by 40 percent by 2030. The demand is based on increased population, climate change, urbanization, and industrialization. The principle basis of economics is scarcity. How do you manage scarce resources, and match it with the demand of the public, while making a profit? Throughout America, water rights are being purchased like home foreclosures. This is occurring in Florida, Texas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, and other states.

The proposed technology and infrastructure

The proposed and current technological processes deal with desalination of ocean and seawater. This process is similar to hemodialysis. Water filtration plants are being built and renovated throughout America. The filtration plants will suck up ocean water and filter out the salt content so that it’s suitable and safe for human consumption and redeposit the remaining salt back to the ocean.

There is also reverse osmosis. This process is being used and heavily proposed nationwide. This takes groundwater, sewage waste water and systematically separates the particulate matter, contaminants, microorganisms, pharmaceuticals, and carcinogens and then passes them through ultrafiltration membranes, ultraviolet lights, and ozone to “purify” it. I encourage you to read everything on your bottle of Dasani, that’s all I will say.

Furthermore, according to three different stories in USA Today, The Huffington Post, and The Washington Times, the U.S. Navy has confirmed that they’ve developed a method that can convert seawater into jetfuel. We all know our country’s thirst for war (no pun intended).

Proponents for reverse osmosis feel that it’s safe for consumption, but currently many companies and utilities use it for agricultural irrigation, toilet, bath, cleaning, industrial needs (thermonuclear energy, semiconductors, and etc.).

It’s all about the Benjamins Baby

The Environmental Protection Agency said that America will need to spend at least $380 billion to upgrade the nation’s water infrastructure. This is why you have Private Equity Firms like Blackstone in attendance at the summit. The Clark County Water Reclamation District is currently estimating spending $585 million to construct a 17 mile long water pipeline to supply Las Vegas. California constructed a $481 million Groundwater Replenishment System that conducts reverse osmosis. In the U.K., a water service provider was propositioned by a conglomeration of Kuwaiti, Canadian, and British investors for $8 billion. In Melbourne, Australia a company named Tandou Ltd has approximately $30 million in water rights. Nikko Asset Management, a Tokyo based subsidiary tried to raise $100 million from Australia for water funds. A utility company called, Canadian River Municipal Water Authority purchased 43,000 acres of water in Texas for $14.5 Million.

The story gets even deeper… Stay tuned for “The New World Water Part 2.” This is too much info for one article.

Global Water Summit 2014 Itinerary link: http://www.watermeetsmoney.com/agenda

Rapper Mos Def was prophetic (Youtube link) New World Water, listen closely: http://youtu.be/IxvQKZPb6Wo

Read Part 2 Here