People Power Just Trumped Corporate Power: Oregon County Rejects Nestle Water-Grab
Wednesday, May 18, 2016
People Power Just Trumped Corporate Power: Oregon County Rejects Nestle Water-Grab
'This is really a resounding victory for everyone who cares about protecting not only our water supply, but water supplies around the world'
Andrea Germanos
Voters in one Oregon county on Tuesday approved a ban on commercial bottled water production, stopping a years-long effort by Swiss transnational Nestle to sell over 100 million gallons of water a year from the Columbia River Gorge.
"This is really a resounding victory for everyone who cares about protecting not only our water supply, but water supplies around the world," said Aurora del Val with Local Water Alliance, which filed the ballot measure petition.
Though opponents of the proposed plant in Cascade Locks in Hood River County were vastly outspent, Measure 14-55 easily passed—rougly 69 percent to 31 percent.
According to Julia DeGraw, an organizer for national watchdog organization Food and Water Watch, which helped lead the opposition, voters were very aware of the risks of putting corporate control over the precious resource, despite the purported 50 jobs the plant would provide the job-scarce town. "When you talk to them about something as crucial as their water, which is necessary for an agricultural economy, right after they have a drought, there is not enough misinformation the opposition can throw at voters to make them buy it," she said.
More:
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/05/18/people-power-just-trumped-corporate-power-oregon-county-rejects-nestle-water-grab
= new reply since forum marked as read
Good for them!
