Where and Why Public Ownership Has Failed [1912]

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Where and Why Public Ownership Has Failed [1912] The Online Library of Liberty A Project Of Liberty Fund, Inc. Yves Guyot, Where and Why Public Ownership has Failed [1912] The Online Library Of Liberty This E-Book (PDF format) is published by Liberty Fund, Inc., a private, non-profit, educational foundation established in 1960 to encourage study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals. 2010 was the 50th anniversary year of the founding of Liberty Fund. It is part of the Online Library of Liberty web site http://oll.libertyfund.org, which was established in 2004 in order to further the educational goals of Liberty Fund, Inc. To find out more about the author or title, to use the site's powerful search engine, to see other titles in other formats (HTML, facsimile PDF), or to make use of the hundreds of essays, educational aids, and study guides, please visit the OLL web site. This title is also part of the Portable Library of Liberty DVD which contains over 1,000 books and quotes about liberty and power, and is available free of charge upon request. The cuneiform inscription that appears in the logo and serves as a design element in all Liberty Fund books and web sites is the earliest-known written appearance of the word “freedom” (amagi), or “liberty.” It is taken from a clay document written about 2300 B.C. in the Sumerian city-state of Lagash, in present day Iraq. To find out more about Liberty Fund, Inc., or the Online Library of Liberty Project, please contact the Director at [email protected]. LIBERTY FUND, INC. 8335 Allison Pointe Trail, Suite 300 Indianapolis, Indiana 46250-1684 Online Library of Liberty: Where and Why Public Ownership has Failed Edition Used: Where and Why Public Ownership has Failed, trans. H.F. Baker (London: Macmillan, 1914). Author: Yves Guyot Translator: Harriet Franc Baker About This Title: One of several books Guyot wrote attacking socialism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In this volume, drawing upon his experience as the French Minister for Public Works, Guyot discusses the differences between public and private trading, with reference to railways, trams, public housing, and various government monopolies, and examines the negative financial, administrative, political, and social consequeces, such as disorder, corruption, and waste. PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 2 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/326 Online Library of Liberty: Where and Why Public Ownership has Failed About Liberty Fund: Liberty Fund, Inc. is a private, educational foundation established to encourage the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals. Copyright Information: The text is in the public domain. Fair Use Statement: This material is put online to further the educational goals of Liberty Fund, Inc. Unless otherwise stated in the Copyright Information section above, this material may be used freely for educational and academic purposes. It may not be used in any way for profit. PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 3 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/326 Online Library of Liberty: Where and Why Public Ownership has Failed Table Of Contents Preface Translator's Note Where and Why Public Ownership Has Failed Book I: Public and Private Trading Operations Chapter I: Two Precepts Chapter II: The Three Mainsprings of Human Action Chapter III: Determining Motives of Private As Against Public Enterprises Chapter IV: Government and Municipal Trading Operations Book II: Financial Results of Government and Municipal Ownership Chapter I: Bookkeeping In State and Municipal Trading Enterprises Chapter II: The Belgian State Railroads Chapter III: Prussian Railroads Chapter IV: State Railways of Austria and Hungary Chapter V: Italian Railways Chapter VII: Railways of New Zealand Chapter VIII: Government Railroads In France Chapter IX: Public Vs. Private Operation Chapter X: The Holy Cities of Municipal Operation Chapter XI: Operation of Gas and Electricity In the United Kingdom Chapter XII: Tramways In Great Britain Chapter XIII: Housing of the Working Classes and Public Ownership In Great Britain Chapter XIV: Housing of the Working Classes On the Continent Chapter XV: Government Control of Food Supplies Chapter XVI: Victims of Government Ownership Chapter XVII: Charges, Debts and Credit Chapter XVIII: Fictitious Profits Chapter XIX: Fiscal Monopolies Chapter XX: The Alcohol Monopoly In Switzerland and Russia Chapter XXI: Financial Disorder Chapter XXII: The Purchase Price Chapter XXIII: Delusions of Profit and the Life Insurance Monopoly In Italy Chapter XXIV: The Fiscal Mines of the Saar District Chapter XXV: Public Versus Private Enterprise Book III: Administrative Results Chapter I: Administrative Results Chapter II: The Safety of Travelers Upon State and Private Railway Lines Chapter III: Disorders, Delays and Errors Chapter IV: Official Conservatism Chapter V: Labor Chapter VI: The Consumer Chapter VII: Programs of Organization and Regulation Book IV: Political and Social Consequences of Public Operation Chapter I: Socialist Programs and the Facts PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 4 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/326 Online Library of Liberty: Where and Why Public Ownership has Failed Chapter II: Bluff Chapter III: Results of Experience Chapter IV: The State a Dishonest Man Chapter V: Corruption Chapter VI: Nationalization of Public Utilities and the Foundation of Great Fortunes Chapter VII: Disintegrating Character of Public Operation Appendix %u201ca%u201d: Alcoholism In Russia Appendix %u201cb%u201d: the Financial Year In Australia Appendix %u201cc%u201d: the Shortcomings of the Telephone In England THE MACMILLAN COMPANY new york · boston · chicago dallas · atlanta · san francisco MACMILLAN & CO., Limited london · bombay · calcutta melbourne THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd. toronto PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 5 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/326 Online Library of Liberty: Where and Why Public Ownership has Failed [Back to Table of Contents] PREFACE The chief difficulty in preparing this book has been to make a coherent arrangement of the material, as the various sources from which it has been gathered are more or less incomplete. Indeed the obstacles in the way of presenting a true picture of industrial enterprises, as operated by states and local governments, can scarcely be exaggerated. The partisans of government and municipal ownership of every species of public utility have assumed a distinctive title. They call themselves representatives of the movement for direct operation (Représentants de la Régie Directe). Their leader in France is Edgard Milhaud, occupying the chair of Political Economy at the University of Geneva, where he makes a special point of emphasizing Socialism.1 In a little periodical, entitled Annales de la Régie Directe, he presents the case for all government and municipal undertakings, although his enthusiasm frequently receives cruel setbacks, as in the suicide of the Mayor of Elbeuf. He has also published several articles for the purpose of demonstrating that accidents are much less frequent upon government railways than upon the lines of private companies. We shall see later (Book 3, Chapter 2) the value of these attempts to justify his creed, and we may judge from them the importance that is to be attached to his other statements. For the academic year 1911–1912, L'École des Hautes Études Sociales organized a series of conferences on the subject of public operation under the direction of M. Milhaud. It was considered advisable that at the close of this series a dissenting voice should be heard—a rôle ultimately assigned to me. In addition to ten preceding lectures, wherein the whole theory and practice of Socialism had been set forth, M. Milhaud was to speak for forty minutes, after which I was to be allotted forty in which to refute the points previously developed by him during 640 minutes. Then we were both to be allowed twenty minutes in order to sum up our arguments. I had at least the satisfaction of knowing that L'Humanité1 attached sufficient importance to this conference to announce that for several days before it was to take place entrance tickets would be reserved for “comrades”; under which conditions it was not difficult to foresee that the hall would be converted into a public assembly room. His audience, thus prepared and won over, naturally gave M. Milhaud an enthusiastic welcome. However, despite some murmurs, it proved itself not unwilling to allow me to oppose my facts to his statements. I borrow from the report of the discussion, as published in L'Humanité, November 14, 1911, the following résumé of the argument of M. Milhaud: “Private monopoly, seeking nothing but maximum profit, is far more costly than public monopoly, which is not bound by the same conditions. Money costs public enterprises less, and, therefore, they can amortize their debt and thus reduce general expenses. On the other hand, heavier expenses for labor can be supported by public undertakings. The management of a public enterprise can even hope for profit, and all PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 6 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/326 Online Library of Liberty: Where and Why Public Ownership has Failed this can be accomplished within less rigid limits than those which necessarily confine private monopoly. Milhaud concluded by outlining the tendency of public enterprises to become administrative autonomies. In order that they may escape pernicious bureaucratic influences, they are being transformed into separate commercial entities. Through increased control by the consumer, on the one hand, and by labor on the other, they are being gradually but completely socialized. Through reduction in prices, these enterprises create larger bodies of consumers, and they also bring about more flexible relations between employers and employed. The representatives of collectivism, individual consumers and producers, may thus unite in behalf of social progress.” When we come to examine the assertions of the propagandists of public operation, we perceive that they are of no better quality than any other Socialist theories; but the assured manner with which these statements are declared succeeds in disturbing and intimidating many people.
Recommended publications
  • Disease and the Municipalization of Private Waterworks in Nineteenth Century England and Wales*
    DISEASE AND THE MUNICIPALIZATION OF PRIVATE WATERWORKS IN NINETEENTH CENTURY ENGLAND AND WALES* Brian Beach Werner Troesken Nicola Tynan College of William & Mary University of Pittsburgh Dickinson College [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] This draft: August 2016 Nearly 40% of England’s privately built waterworks were municipalized in the late 19th century. We examine how this affected public health by pairing annual mortality data for over 600 registration districts, spanning 1869 to 1910, with detailed waterworks information. Identification is aided by idiosyncratic delays in the municipalization process. Municipalization lowered deaths from typhoid fever, a waterborne disease, by nearly 20% but deaths from non-waterborne causes were unaffected. One threat to identification, however, is the possibility of mean reversion as municipalization was motivated in part by steadily rising typhoid rates. We adopt multiple strategies to control for the possibility of mean reversion and other potential confounds. Results are robust to all of these strategies. Previous research exploring how ownership regimes affect public health yields conflicting results. The data and identification strategies we employ help reconcile these results and provide new insight into the forces that drove municipalization. JEL Codes: N33, N43, H44, I10 * For helpful suggestions, we thank seminar participants at Northwestern University and UCLA, as well as the Economic History Society, Economic and Business History, and Southern Economic Association’s annual meetings. Artemis Yang provided outstanding research assistance. 1 1. Introduction During the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, nearly 40 percent of Britain’s more than 300 privately built waterworks became publicly owned. This transition also occurred in other parts of Western Europe and the United States such that by the mid twentieth century municipally-owned waterworks were the norm in much of the world (Thompson 1917; Grafton et al.
    [Show full text]
  • Where Does Public Land Come From? Municipalization and Privatization Debates Oksana Mironova and Samuel Stein
    Where Does Public Land Come From? Municipalization and Privatization Debates Oksana Mironova and Samuel Stein This article illuminates contemporary land-use and disposition struggles in New York City by tracing the history of land’s passage between the private and public realms. The authors contend that government and community-controlled nonprofit organizations should govern the disposition of the city’s remaining public land supply, deliberately deploying this scarce resource to promote the well-being of the people and neighborhoods most at risk in a speculation-fueled real-estate environment. For most of the 20th century, public land has played a pivotal role in the development of affordable housing, as well as the realization of broader urban-planning visions. In New York City, even though the supply of available public land has dwindled over the past 30 years, it remains at the center of multiple political conflicts: the disposition1 and redevelopment of Crown Heights’ Bedford–Union Armory; the fate of Edgemere, an unfinished urban-renewal site in Far Rockaway; the East Harlem properties that the East Harlem–El Barrio Community Land Trust (CLT) seeks to convert into affordable housing; the various proposed sites for private “infill” development on public housing sites; and more. These struggles are fueled by two factors. First, public land fights are strategic: development on public land offers neighborhood groups an opportunity to intervene through the city’s land-use review process; it also lowers the cost of development, allowing for deeper affordability. Second, these sites are politically potent: in New York City today, there is nearly a political consensus that government should use its resources—including land—to ease the affordability crisis.2 Both factors provide grassroots groups with greater potential for influence, as compared to development that occurs on privately owned land.
    [Show full text]
  • Public Power for Your Community Local Control
    Public Power for Your Community Local control. Local priorities. A stronger local economy. 2 PUBLIC POWER FOR YOUR COMMUNITY Public Power for Your Community Local control. Local priorities. A stronger local economy. The American Public Power Association represents not-for-profit, community-owned electric utilities that power homes, businesses and streets in more than 2,000 towns and cities, serving 48 million Americans. With no divided loyalties, these utilities are focused on a single mission—providing reliable electricity at a reasonable price, while protecting the environment. These public power utilities generate, or buy, electricity from diverse sources. More at © 2016 American Public Power Association. All rights reserved. Public Power for Your Community Local Control. Local priorities. A stronger local economy. Prepared by the American Public Power Association MORE INFORMATION For additional information or resources on forming a public power utility, contact: Ursula Schryver, 202/467-2980, [email protected]; or LeAnne Sinclair, 202/467-2973, [email protected] American Public Power Association 2451 Crystal Drive Suite 1000 Arlington, VA 22202 Table of Contents Summary ..................................................................................................................................6 What is Public Power? ........................................................................................................7 What is the public power business model? ...................................................................................9
    [Show full text]
  • Municipalization for Privatization's Sake
    Society and Business Review Municipalization for privatization’s sake: Municipal solid waste collection services in urban India Aman Luthra, Article information: To cite this document: Aman Luthra, (2018) "Municipalization for privatization’s sake: Municipal solid waste collection services in urban India", Society and Business Review, https://doi.org/10.1108/SBR-11-2017-0102 Permanent link to this document: https://doi.org/10.1108/SBR-11-2017-0102 Downloaded on: 09 August 2018, At: 21:06 (PT) References: this document contains references to 90 other documents. To copy this document: [email protected] Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided by Token:Eprints:VESFRDCAPASJMNJFKGYV: For Authors If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.com Emerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services. Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for Downloaded by 171.79.27.160 At 21:06 09 August 2018 (PT) digital archive preservation. *Related content and download information correct at time of download.
    [Show full text]
  • Public Energy
    PUBLIC ENERGY SHELLEY WELTON* Many scholars and policy makers celebrate cities as loci for addressing climate change. In addition to being significant sources of carbon pollution, cities prove to be dynamic sites of experimentation and ambition on climate policy. However, as U.S. cities set climate change goals far above those of their federal and state coun- terparts, they are butting up against the limits of their existing legal authority, most notably with regard to control over energy supplies. In response, many U.S. cities are exercising their legal rights to reclaim public ownership or control over private electric utilities as a method of achieving their climate change goals. Although there is widespread desire for cities to act within their legal authority to reduce carbon pollution, it is a different question entirely whether they should be encouraged to expand this authority by reclaiming ownership or control over tasks previously outsourced to private companies. On this question, energy law has much to learn from administrative law’s robust attention to outsourcing theory. This Article draws from the outsourcing literature to argue that climate change compli- cates traditional theories regarding whether cities should prefer publicly or privately owned electricity systems. By transposing these theories into energy law, it con- structs a theoretical defense of why more public forms of energy ownership or con- trol may be effective governance tools for the climate change era. In the last century, providing electricity was a task well suited to government oversight of pri- vate companies, as regulators primarily aimed to incentivize low prices and ade- quate supply.
    [Show full text]
  • Electric Utility Privatization an Analysis of Why Municipalization Efforts Fail
    Electric Utility Privatization An Analysis of Why Municipalization Efforts Fail October 2019 Table of Contents Table of Contents ................................................. i Key Terms .......................................................... ii Summary Takeaways ........................................... 1 Utility Characteristics .......................................... 2 Perceived Benefits of Municipalization ................... 3 Realities of Municipalization ................................ 4 Recent Privatization Cases ................................... 8 Examples of Municipalization Issues ................... 12 i Key Terms Municipal Electric Utility (“MEU”) Municipalization A local government public utility operating Municipalization, in the context of an on a non-profit basis. Municipal electric electric utility, is the transfer of electric utilities are managed by local elected officials utility assets, either through settlement or or city employees and can be operated by the condemnation, from an IOU to ownership municipality or a third party. Rates are set by under local municipal authority. the city council or local utility board. These utilities often purchase power through contracts or at market prices, with larger Privatization municipal electric utilities operating their own generation plants. Privatization, in the context of an electric utility, is the opposite of municipalization, wherein the municipal electric utility Investor-Owned Utility (“IOU”) transfers ownership of the electric utility assets to an IOU.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 REMUNICIPALISATION, MUTATING NEOLIBERALISM and the CONJUNCTURE Andrew Cumbers and Franziska Paul Adam Smith Business School Un
    REMUNICIPALISATION, MUTATING NEOLIBERALISM AND THE CONJUNCTURE Andrew Cumbers and Franziska Paul Adam Smith Business School University of Glasgow Conceptual Working Paper, Global Remunicipalisation Project,* August 2020 Abstract There is a growing interest in left and progressive circles in the radical potential of remunicipalisation. This refers to a global trend, evident particularly since 2000, for towns, cities and even subnational regions to take formerly privatised assets and services back into public ownership. In this paper, we offer a new conceptualisation of remunicipalisation, developing a conjunctural perspective through critical engagement with the work of Stuart Hall and Gramsci and recent geographical scholarship. This draws attention to the open, dynamic, political and spatially diverse aspects of remunicipalisation as part of a mutating process of neoliberalism. Emphasising the conjunctural insight of neoliberalism’s shifting and variegated terrain on which progressive forces have to mobilise, our theorisation has implications for left political strategy and broader transformative left projects against a backdrop of global economic, social and ecological crisis. Keywords: Remuncipalisation, Neoliberalism, Mutation, Conjuncture, Democratic Publics * We acknowledge the support of the European Research Council for funding the research project behind this paper ‘GLOBALMUN: Global Remunicipalisation and The Post - Neoliberal Turn’ (Grant Agreement 789100). 1 Introduction There is a growing interest on the left in the phenomenon of remunicipalisation 1 (e.g. Becker et al 2015, Cumbers and Becker 2018, McDonald 2018). This is a process, particularly evident since the early 2000s, for towns, cities and in some cases sub-national regions to take previously privatised assets and services back into local public – hence municipal – ownership.
    [Show full text]
  • Regenerating Dixie: Electric Energy and the Making of the Modern South
    Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University History Dissertations Department of History 8-12-2016 Regenerating Dixie: Electric Energy and the Making of the Modern South Casey P. Cater Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/history_diss Recommended Citation Cater, Casey P., "Regenerating Dixie: Electric Energy and the Making of the Modern South." Dissertation, Georgia State University, 2016. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/history_diss/52 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of History at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in History Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. REGENERATING DIXIE: ELECTRIC ENERGY AND THE MAKING OF THE MODERN SOUTH by CASEY P. CATER Under the Direction of Michelle Brattain, PhD and Joe Perry, PhD ABSTRACT The emergence and spread of electricity profoundly shaped the “long New South.” This dissertation traces the electrification of the US South from the 1880s to the 1970s. Focusing primarily on the Atlanta-based Georgia Power Company, it emphasizes that electricity’s rise was not simply the result of technological innovation. It was a multifaceted process that deeply influenced, and was influenced by, environmental alterations, political machinations, business practices, and social and cultural matters. Although it hewed to national and global patterns in many respects, southern electrification charted a distinctive and instructive path. Its story speaks to the ways the South’s experiences with electrification shaped larger American models of energy transitions and economic development, but also the ways it wrought dramatic changes in the fabric of everyday life.
    [Show full text]
  • The Socialist Municipal Campaign in Los Angeles, 1911
    Labor History, Vol. 41, No. 1, 2000 ª No Make-Believe Class Struggleº : The Socialist Municipal Campaign in Los Angeles, 1911 DANIEL J. JOHNSON When the votes were ® nally tallied after the December 1911 election, the Socialist party of Los Angeles was greeted with both failure and triumph. While they had failed to win a single city of® ce, they did successfully forge a viable working-class coalition which gave them over 37% of the total vote. Historians have characterized the Socialist campaign of 1911 as a slightly more radical variation of middle-class progressivism, depending for its appeal upon themes of ef® cient government and municipal owner- ship. David Shannon argued that the Socialist candidate for mayor, Job Harriman, was indistinguishable ª ¼ from progressives of either of the two major parties.º This assessment was echoed in Robert Fogelson’s The Fragmented Metropolis, which is still considered one of the best overall monographs on the history of Los Angeles. Fogelson asserts that the Socialists received support from ª municipal ownership advocates, trade union members, and Socialist Party sympathizersº who were agitated by the progressive administration’ s slow rate of municipalization. The Socialists, he argues, ran a very moderate reform campaign, promising a ª more ef® cient and equitable administration ¼ municipal ownership ¼ and improved conditions for the laboring class.º This issue of social welfare reform was emphasized by Martin Schiesl who, using John D. Buenkers’ concept of ª urban liberalism,º argued that the progressive administration lost the support of the city’s workers because it was perceived as interested simply in ef® cient, businesslike government, rather than with improving the living and working conditions of the city’s poorer folk.1 These interpretations fail to consider the actual content and impact of the Socialists’ rhetoric during the campaign, in which issues of ef® ciency or social welfare reform were undercut by radical attacks upon the perceived class biases of the progressive adminis- tration.
    [Show full text]
  • Forming a Public Power Utility
    Forming a Public Power Utility Public power has survived and thrived in America for well It is the responsibility of city officials to examine the over a century. Citizen-owned public power utilities first performance of the utility providing electric service to the appeared more than 130 years ago when communities community. An expiring franchise is a prime opportunity created electric utilities to provide light and power to their for the municipality to evaluate viable electric service citizens. The number of public power utilities has grown options to promote the community’s priorities, interests from fewer than a dozen in 1890 to more than 2,000 today. and economic health. The path to forming a new utility takes grit and determination. The process can be long, complicated and costly, and fraught with legal challenges. But the “I therefore lay down the following benefits of public ownership and local control are many, so principle: That where a community–a city communities around the country continue to investigate the or county or district–is not satisfied with the public power option. service rendered or the rates charged by the private utility, it has the undeniable basic right, Before launching a campaign to form a new public power as one of its functions of government, one of utility, it is useful to understand the community’s rights and its functions of home rule, to set up, after a fair responsibilities in choosing its electric service provider; the referendum to its voters has been had, its own steps involved in the process; and how the incumbent utility governmentally owned and operated service.” may respond.
    [Show full text]
  • An Analysis of Municipalization and Related Utility Practices
    An Analysis of Municipalization and Related Utility Practices Prepared for the District of Columbia Department of Energy and Environment (DC DOEE) September 30, 2017 485 Massachusetts Avenue, Suite 2 Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 617.661.3248 | www.synapse‐energy.com CONTENTS 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ....................................................................................... 1 2. MUNICIPALIZATION ........................................................................................... 6 2.1. Case Studies .................................................................................................................... 10 2.2. Findings ........................................................................................................................... 27 2.3. Municipalization Process for the Studied Communities.................................................... 33 2.4. Costs and Benefits ........................................................................................................... 38 3. SURVEY OF INNOVATIVE UTILITY PRACTICES .......................................................... 44 3.1. Approaches to Planning and Operation ........................................................................... 44 3.2. Integrating Electric Vehicles ............................................................................................. 58 3.3. Innovative Rate Designs and Tariffs ................................................................................. 61 3.4. Utility Outcome‐Based Incentives ...................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Municipalization Guide
    MUNICIPALIZATION GUIDE How U.S. Communities Can Secure Local Public Control of Privately Owned Water and Sewer Systems This guide is for informational purposes only. It is not intended to provide legal advice or compliance instruction. Readers are responsible for consulting their own legal counsel and the appropriate regulatory authorities before interpreting rules and regulations or undertaking any specific course of action. Much of this report relies on secondary sources and their analyses of state statutes. While all sources were deemed credible and reliable, Food & Water Watch’s analysis reflects the secondary sources’ interpretation of the law and does not necessarily reflect the organization’s legal stance on any specific statutory provision. About Food & Water Watch Food & Water Watch works to ensure the food, water and fish we consume is safe, accessible and sustainable. So we can all enjoy and trust in what we eat and drink, we help people take charge of where their food comes from, keep clean, affordable, public tap water flowing freely to our homes, protect the environmental quality of oceans, force government to do its job protecting citizens, and educate about the importance of keeping shared resources under public control. Food & Water Watch California Office 1616 P St. NW, Suite 300 25 Stillman St., Suite 200 Washington, DC 20036 San Francisco, CA 94107 tel: (202) 683-2500 tel: (415) 293-9900 fax: (202) 683-2501 fax: (415) 293-8394 [email protected] [email protected] www.foodandwaterwatch.org Copyright © July 2012 by Food & Water Watch. All rights reserved. This report can be viewed or downloaded at www.foodandwaterwatch.org.
    [Show full text]