Water: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

The fact a leader of a state can go on TV and ask the entire state to pray a problem away so he doesn't have to do his job is terrifying.

Denying climate change for 30 years, then pray to god for rain: a perfect allegory for our "modern" civilization.

In case you were wondering who was keeping drought records in the southwest during 800 AD, it was the trees 🌳

The fact that Vegas can have huge water shows and still be beneficial on their water supply should really be a wakeup call that we can actively do something to help the situation if we really tried, without having to lose all of the luxuries we once had. Sure some things have to go and change, but if we actively make these changes there are many things we can keep that we wont be able to if we dont act fast.

As a indigenous woman, we have known about this problem for a long time. Even before Glen canyon dam was built. We warned the US government. We’re just ignoring the problem at hand. Like nothing is happening. Oliver hasn’t even talked about our aquifers that are not drinkable due to uranium mining on the Navajo reservation. As native people, we are not even in the talks about water. A few years ago John McCain tried to pass SB 2109 (Navajo-Hopi Little Colorado River Water Settlement) he came to Navajo trying to negotiate our water with the state of AZ. While the whole state has majority of the Colorado River. Navajo chased John McCain off of the Navajo reservation and his offer. We need water too!

As someone who lives in Utah, John going on about the state and our governor was completely earned. Our state's leaders rarely do anything that makes sense or actually helps.

My family’s well in AZ went dry in 1996 and I grew up like those folks did. Showered at friend’s or in the school locker rooms when we could, did laundry at laundromats, flushed toilets with buckets of already used water. House never felt clean and it was a constant source of stress. When i moved to the city and could flush my toilet with the handle instead of a bucket I literally cried.

I'm European and seeing that a state head in the USA apparently thinks it's a reasonable solution to pray for rain in the 21st century is just so mind-blowing, I don't know if I'm more shocked or scared. Someone in a charge that high should at least believe in science or be able to gather a team of experts who can explain the topic to him and help find a solution.... Right?! 😳😳

You know, I'm gonna just thank John Oliver and HBO for putting his main content for free on YT. I'm an HBOMax subscriber so they already have my money. They are putting out important info for free.

Not just a surfing lagoon in the California desert, it's a surfing lagoon in the desert for people who 100% could afford both the time and cost of just going to the goddamned beach, which is literally less than 90 minutes away!

I live in Western Australia and here there is a groundwater replenishment scheme that I don't think many people know about. Purified wastewater is pumped underground and will get back to aquifers in about 30 years. We also have desalination plants off the coast because rainfall is increasingly not enough to supply the city of Perth

My dad is a groundwater microbiologist and my family has lived in Colorado for generations. My dad said that when he was a kid it never got too hot even in the summer. Flash forwards thirty years and my parent's house IN TOWN almost burned down twice in the span of three months. Our neighbors lost everything including pets to the fires and my parents are seeing their house and moving to a less burnable area. Last year we didn't get our first snow until January (the day after the devastating fire). And as a child through adulthood I went to summer camp in the Rockies and worked as a counselor, only to evacuate the camp three years in a row due to fires. Colorado is in trouble. And as far as states go it's probably one of the luckier ones for water. We are all in trouble.

“That’s just unsustainable” “That’s just human nature” That’s the whole problem

"It is imperative that we learn from our past mistakes." We are so screwed.

"All faiths....or one of the many wrong ones!" As a Utah resident, this was an amazingly accurate and insightful set of comments by Oliver.

Once again, Brian Cox delivers an authentic performance, capturing the spirit and intent of the character he portrays. Bravo, sir!

Lived in Vegas as a kid. Every museum and science field trip stressed the importance of water conservation and how dire the situation was for the future of the city and the southwest as a whole. Decades later, its in the exact place everyone said it would be. Its almost at the point where the Hoover Dam won't be able to provide any power. I am hoping these cities that keep approving golf courses and mega resorts in the desert become the biggest ghost towns in history.

Hey Coloradan here! I did a water usage project in like the 4th grade (probably 14 years ago) and discovered a lot of of content John just presented on - including that Colorado snowmelt is the sole watershed for like 7 states and 4-5 territories of Mexico and that we allocate way more than we actually have. Even an 11 year old saw the writing on the wall that the western states were in massive trouble - I was traumatized and avoided taking baths for years and begged my parents to get rid of the lawn! I could never figure out why my teachers weren’t as surprised or alarmed as I was. Just sayin, If an elementary school student understands that the only way to solve this problem is to actually reduce water usage along the watershed, so should our elected officials!!

I live here in Utah and one of the largest consumers of water in Salt Lake is the University of Utah. They have so many lawns where they should just have rocks or something else

There should be a spin-off series giving updates on each of these fantastic stories!