UCS Releases New Factsheet, ‘The Energy-Water Collision: 10 Things You Should Know’

The Union of Concerned Scientists has just released a fantastic new fact sheet called The Energy-Water Collision: 10 Things You Should Know, which highlights the water impacts of energy choices and ways to address them. The colorful fact sheet is packed full of great information, graphs and factoids that will send a clear message to policy makers and the general public about our water, energy and climate challenges.

For decades the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) has been a leader in science-based environmental advocacy, which is why it’s so utterly awesome that they’ve decided to throw their weight behind water and energy issues. I first learned about their interest in water-energy issues last year, when they attended the Johnson Foundation’s meeting on reducing conflicts at the energy-water interface.

Their first public product dealing with the water-energy nexus is a great resource called The Energy-Water Collision: 10 Things You Should Know. The fact sheet is the first in their new “Energy and Water Collision” series that explores the ways which energy choices affect water resources in the United States. This fact sheet provides a great overview of the water use and pollution associated with energy production. In addition to describing the problems we face, the fact sheet also does an excellent job pointing to solutions – such as using wind and photovoltaic solar technologies that are essentially water-free.

UCS has plans to continue rolling out more outreach materials addressing the water-energy-climate connection over the next few months, which I’ll certainly be covering on this blog. In the meantime, check out their webpage on Energy and Water.

Download: The Energy-Water Collision: 10 Things You Should Know

Hat-tip to George Sorvalis from the Corps Reform Network and Nadia Madden from UCS for sending this my way.