Letter to the Editor: Voice Unfair to Nestle
Dear Editor:
Your editorial “Nestlé Fight Is Not Finished” is a disservice to the public. I know nothing of the pros and cons of bottled water except what I have read in your essay. However, the debate has nothing to do with Nestlé’s application in Chaffee County for a 1041 permit. The only issue in Chaffee County is whether Nestlé has complied with the law and whether the law has been evenly and fairly applied by Chaffee County. If you have a problem with bottled water, I suggest you take it up with the legislature, not with Nestlé which has as much right to sell water as you do to sell newspapers.
Sincerely yours,
John M. Cogswell
The question about having the same right to sell water as newspapers is a curious idea.
The view that someone can take a natural resource, that is necessary for all humans to live, unlike oil or newspapers —out of the ground, and sell it back for several hundred times it’s extraction cost —is worth review.
Who gets to own the water and determine its price? The lawyers tell us that this will be the essence of the next fight against Nestle Waters. Some have said that this could be the greatest global legal battle since the Magna Carta was proposed, and we are on the front line. Overly dramatic? Considering that water is in short supply, privatization of natural resources needed for survival must transcend politics and ideologies. The war has begun.
Your point about the legal aspect of the process is well taken, so please forgive my soapbox. To this end, as an attorney with some repute Mr Cogswell, your involvement and consult would likely be greatly appreciated locally where, if you appreciate the gravity, many good people are feeling out-gunned by nestle’$ corporate attorneys.
Bill Donavan
PS I appreciate your honesty regarding knowing little about bottled water. This was a good movie, though some research online will be more valuable http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72MCumz5lq4
Mr. Cogswell,
With all due respect, it appears you are (still) confused about the opposition to Nestle’s pursuits in our county. The question is not only whether Nestle’s efforts are supported by law, but whether or not current property, corporate, and water law even reflects a sustainable future for Colorado’s resources. Accusing those who question the integrity of those laws of being “unfair” is simply misguided. Your obvious propensity for obedience to law is acknowledged. However, wisdom dictates that any given law is not inherently “good,” but merely represents a best effort to curtail the behaviors of those who seek to abuse freedom. As the abuser outwits the law, the law must change. This is especially critical within the arenas of environmental and social justice. Without that wisdom we would still own other people, have no Wilderness, and deny women the vote. Only the most unyielding capitalist fails to appreciate this. If you are personally satisfied with the current laws that hold potential to support Nestle’s efforts, then you should rest assured that those laws will withstand the scrutiny of controversy. If they do not, then it may be shown that the law is inadequate and needs revision. As for your strange suggestion that the Ark Valley Voice “take it up with the legislature” you’re reminded that the Voice is a NEWSPAPER…? The free press is certainly under no obligation whatsoever to convey public opinion or editorialize according to what the legislature might entertain or dismiss. Conversely, it is the legislature that should create law that best reflects the interests of those whom it is supposed to serve and represent. And, really, let’s not kid ourselves. Nestle has all kinds of access to our legislators that the citizens of Chaffee County could never procure. How fair is that?
Respectfully,
David Bott
Buena Vista, CO
I think it is also important to look at nestle’s history. A good source of information is: stopnestlewaters.org. With some research I think you will find that at best, this company is ’shady’.