• Quick note - the problem with Youtube videos not embedding on the forum appears to have been fixed, thanks to ZiprHead. If you do still see problems let me know.

California is doomed

ChristianProgressive said:
In the meantime, we have a-holes like the CEO of Nestle declaring that he should be allowed to bottle MORE water for private sale:

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/05/15/3659415/drought-isnt-nestles-problem/
Click to expand...

We also bottle soda, tea, beer, wine, all sorts of beverages. The total California bottled water usage, all companies, is about 3 billion gallons. Los Angeles residential use per year is 179 billion gallons. Alfalfa uses 1.7 trillion gallons of water each year. And with bottled water, we are talking about water that people will drink. Someone is seriously barking up the wrong tree.

and a former CEO saying that all water should be privatized:

http://naturalsociety.com/nestle-ceo-water-not-human-right-should-be-privatized/
Click to expand...

I really don't know where to start on this article. There isn't much here regarding water. It seems to be all about slavery and GMOs. And there is a video that it's claimed is the nestle ceo saying that corporations should own all the water. The video actual claims no position on who should own water.

and spoiled rich people who demand unlimited water for their lawns/pools/ etc

http://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...c6f998-0e39-11e5-9726-49d6fa26a8c6_story.html
Click to expand...

And again, making a villain so we can avoid the real issues.
 
lionking said:
California has to be introduced to renewable energy as well. Our huge desal plant is designed to be powered by renewable energy. And unlike those who are calling it a White Elephant, I think it's an insurance policy. There will be more droughts.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victorian_Desalination_Plant
Click to expand...

California actually leads the US, with 20% of it's energy coming from renewables (not counting hydro). Australia only gets 13% of it's energy from renewables, *including* hydro. So for a comparison, it's actually around 6%. Perhaps California can introduce Australia to renewable energy?
 
ChristianProgressive said:
In the meantime, we have a-holes like the CEO of Nestle declaring that he should be allowed to bottle MORE water for private sale:

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/05/15/3659415/drought-isnt-nestles-problem/

and a former CEO saying that all water should be privatized:

http://naturalsociety.com/nestle-ceo-water-not-human-right-should-be-privatized/

and spoiled rich people who demand unlimited water for their lawns/pools/ etc

http://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...c6f998-0e39-11e5-9726-49d6fa26a8c6_story.html
Click to expand...

Drops in the bucket. Compared to farming, NONE of this matters. Complaining about this is, as I said before, complaining about a bug bite while you are on fire.

bit_pattern said:
I had some issues with the way the tragedy of the commons was framed by the presenters as being a foible of human nature. It's really not, it's a foible of the socio-cultural structures that developed in Europe. For the vast span of human history, people have worked together in common to utilise their environment and conserve it for the common good. Our way is not set in stone, it's not "human nature", it's just culture. And cultural systems can change..
Click to expand...
As was said before, this is nonsense. The fact that the overkill hypothesis is a viable scientific explanation for the mammalian megafaunal extinction at 12ka or so (depends where you are--it's ongoing in some parts of the world) is proof of that! Plus, our view of the Americas is heavily colored by the fact that Europeans mostly saw them post-Apocolyps. Disease wiped out most of the population of the continent before Europeans could move in--meaning that yeah, they lived in ballance with Nature because so many of them had died that their entire civilization collapsed into nothing. The only people who survived are those who could handle living lives stripped of the security civilization offers. THIS IS NOT SOMETHING WE SHOULD STRIVE FOR. Anyone who disagrees can be dismissed as not taking the idea seriously--anyone who did, would be dead already by suicide, because that's the logical and inevitable conclusion of such a line of thought.

I'm not a fan of industrial agriculture in California. I believe there are better places for it. But let's be clear here: Humans have always affected our environment, and always will. The only question we can ask ourselves that isn't answered by "Everyone commit suicide" is "What impact do we want to have?"
 
The huge influx of Mexicans with sky high birth rates into California in recent decades isn't helping this, or any other problem which is touched on by the issue of high population density (which is every problem in society, or nearly so.)

Unchecked immigration by people with outrageous birth rates from cultures which have no environmentalist ethic is devastating. Look up some of the stories of what they're doing to our national parks, for one example.
 
Skeptic Tank said:
Unchecked immigration by people with outrageous birth rates from cultures which have no environmentalist ethic is devastating. Look up some of the stories of what they're doing to our national parks, for one example.
Click to expand...

Then look at who's building our infrastructure. I spent four years in CA doing paleo mitigation on construction projects. English was not a commonly spoken language in those areas. (The odd exception is wind energy, for which they imported a lot of folks from the Midwest.) It was the same for power plants, roads, utility lines, pretty much everything I worked on. Made talking to them at lunch kind of fun--the union guys honestly didn't realize they bounced between English and Spanish constantly, which meant I could only understand half the conversation (though the ones about the quality of the unions didn't require much translation.....Union workers out there have a lower opinion of unions than most Objectivists!).

Also, if you think high population density is the cause of all social problems, you don't know history. It has its own unique set of problems, but then again so does LOW population density.
 
Gawdzilla Sama said:
We could just build a wall around SoCal to contain the problem?
Click to expand...

Remind me of "Amerika v. 6.0" by Steve Earle.

In part,

Four score and a hundred and fifty years ago
Our forefathers made us equal as long as we can pay
Yeah, well maybe that wasn't exactly what they was thinkin'
Version six-point-oh of the American way
But hey we can just build a great wall around the country club
To keep the riff-raff out until the slump is through
Yeah, I realize that ain't exactly democratic, but it's either them or us and
And it's the best we can do

From his album, Jerusalem - one of my favorites.
 
RussDill said:
We also bottle soda, tea, beer, wine, all sorts of beverages. The total California bottled water usage, all companies, is about 3 billion gallons. Los Angeles residential use per year is 179 billion gallons. Alfalfa uses 1.7 trillion gallons of water each year. And with bottled water, we are talking about water that people will drink. Someone is seriously barking up the wrong tree.



I really don't know where to start on this article. There isn't much here regarding water. It seems to be all about slavery and GMOs. And there is a video that it's claimed is the nestle ceo saying that corporations should own all the water. The video actual claims no position on who should own water.



And again, making a villain so we can avoid the real issues.
Click to expand...

Pointing at agriculture to divert attention from Nestle and the rich landowners wasting water IS avoiding the real issues.

Does agriculture need to fix it's water use practices? Yes.

Does Nestle need to be shut down and stop exporting the state's water for profit? Yes.

Do the rich landowners that want to use scarce water for green lawns they don't need and golf courses and other wasteful water uses need to be stopped? Yes.

Every drop counts.
 
casebro said:
Meantime we are building the Bullet Train to Nowhere instead.

Maybe it's not too late to re-route it through the Pistachio fields?
Click to expand...

Calling metropolitan regions with 30+ million people "nowhere" just seems odd. But the Koch brothers and their minions do love meaningless soundbites.
 
Incidentally I got a letter in the mail from the utility letting me know that I have cut my summer water usage by 72% over pre drought years. I got a credit on my bill for my efforts. So conserving is possible if one puts any effort into it.
 
Travis said:
Incidentally I got a letter in the mail from the utility letting me know that I have cut my summer water usage by 72% over pre drought years. I got a credit on my bill for my efforts. So conserving is possible if one puts any effort into it.
Click to expand...

Your conservation efforts don't include bottles in your bedroom, do they? I seem to recall that not working out so well before.
 
ChristianProgressive said:
Does Nestle need to be shut down and stop exporting the state's water for profit? Yes.
Click to expand...

So *every* business in California that makes money by exporting water needs to be shut down? That is a very, very, very long list. And you'll find that Nestle is no where near the top.

Do the rich landowners that want to use scarce water for green lawns they don't need and golf courses and other wasteful water uses need to be stopped? Yes.

Every drop counts.
Click to expand...

Whoever said that every drop counts? There is always an economic balance between water savings and money spent. The amount of water used by rich landowners pales in comparison to the amount of water used for recreational lakes. Why do those drops count less? Or the billions of water wasted in inefficient storage and transport. The house is on fire, it's burning down. But you seem overly concerned that a kid in the corner is drawing an the walls.
 
Cain said:
I like how all these outsiders keep telling us we're "doomed" and "stupid" and so on. People need to get some perspective. Right now the most important thing is the Dodgers winning the World Series.
Click to expand...

Anyone that roots for the Dodgers probably is already in the early stages of heat prostration and should hydrate immediately.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom