Environmental Issues

[jprue24]

This article offers a different opinion.

Don’t blame farms for drying up the Great Salt Lake. Why they could be key to its survival.

Farms offer flexibility for leasing water to the imperiled Great Salt Lake.

www.sltrib.com

The big winter blast that dumped snow all over the west including SoCal should help water tables. It's not a permanent fix, but should bring some much needed relief.

That article makes a case, but I still can't get past this statement yet.

"Farming is, indeed, the largest water consumer in the Great Salt Lake’s watershed and across the state. About three-quarters of Utah’s water funnels to irrigation, while agriculture accounts for less than 3% of the state’s gross domestic product. And a lot of that water is used to grow alfalfa."

75% of the water for irrigation accounting for only 3% of state gdp vs. toxic cloud.

I want to keep living in the Wasatch front.

 

[Irish#1]

That article makes a case, but I still can't get past this statement yet.

"Farming is, indeed, the largest water consumer in the Great Salt Lake’s watershed and across the state. About three-quarters of Utah’s water funnels to irrigation, while agriculture accounts for less than 3% of the state’s gross domestic product. And a lot of that water is used to grow alfalfa."

75% of the water for irrigation accounting for only 3% of state gdp vs. toxic cloud.

I want to keep living in the Wasatch front.

The answer probably lies somewhere in between.

Read another article on a pipeline in S Utah that’s been on hold since 2006 because of environmental concerns.

The fastest growing metro in the US is looking to a shrinking reservoir to keep the boom going

Lake Powell hit its lowest level in decades last year, but Washington County in Utah needs water to keep growing. And the reservoir is their target.

www.cnn.com

 

[Henges24]

 

[Rockin’Irish]

Good thing she’s got those clothes on made from hydrocarbon products…….it would be a shame if she got chilly.

 

[Irish#1]

Amazing how her legs worked after they moved her out of the way.

 

[jprue24]

 

[Irish#1]

The Railroad industry is probably the most powerful in the country. The government pretty much gave them anything they wanted back when railroads were being built and those contracts are still in force today making them almost immune to any repercussions.

 

[Rockin’Irish]

The Railroad industry is probably the most powerful in the country. The government pretty much gave them anything they wanted back when railroads were being built and those contracts are still in force today making them almost immune to any repercussions.

They are definitely in a league of their own.

 

[jprue24]

 

[GATTACA!]

That’s awesome. We need more of this.

 

[drayer54]

Imagine how many of these carbon free baseload power sources we could have bought in the so called ‘inflation reduction act’ instead of handing money over to ‘green’ donors.

 

[PerthDomer]

Imagine how many of these carbon free baseload power sources we could have bought in the so called ‘inflation reduction act’ instead of handing money over to ‘green’ donors.

The IRA sent money for R&D on next generation nuclear.

 

[drayer54]

The IRA sent money for R&D on next generation nuclear.

Right. But how many AP1000’s could have been purchased in lieu of subsidies for previously subsidized energy sources. Wind and solar have the infrastructure they need now. Big nuke does not.

 

[GATTACA!]

Right. But how many AP1000’s could have been purchased in lieu of subsidies for previously subsidized energy sources. Wind and solar have the infrastructure they need now. Big nuke does not.

Gas has all the infrastructure it needs too. Why don't we get rid of those subsidies while we're at it?

 

[Bluto]

That article makes a case, but I still can't get past this statement yet.

"Farming is, indeed, the largest water consumer in the Great Salt Lake’s watershed and across the state. About three-quarters of Utah’s water funnels to irrigation, while agriculture accounts for less than 3% of the state’s gross domestic product. And a lot of that water is used to grow alfalfa."

75% of the water for irrigation accounting for only 3% of state gdp vs. toxic cloud.

I want to keep living in the Wasatch front.

Much of the west, south west and inter mountain west blew past sustainable levels in terms of development a long time ago. I believe Cadillac Desert was originally published in 1986? That’s the best book written on this subject in my opinion.

Arizona and New Mexico are going to be truly fucked in the coming decades. Gonna be weird if Tucson becomes the next Chaco Canyon.

 

[Bluto]

This article offers a different opinion.

Don’t blame farms for drying up the Great Salt Lake. Why they could be key to its survival.

Farms offer flexibility for leasing water to the imperiled Great Salt Lake.

www.sltrib.com

The big winter blast that dumped snow all over the west including SoCal should help water tables. It's not a permanent fix, but should bring some much needed relief.

The recent storms in California will have minimal impact on groundwater recharge in places like the Central Valley due to how drastically the hydrology of that area has been changed.

Pre European contact it was essentially a large lake/wetland from the coast range to the Sierras during winters like this. Many of the aquifers located there were built up over millennia and have now been sucked dry in less than 100 years.

 

[drayer54]

Gas has all the infrastructure it needs too. Why don't we get rid of those subsidies while we're at it?

How much $/MW are gas plants getting now or under the IRA? How much federally subsidized transmission is gas getting?

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

The Railroad industry is probably the most powerful in the country. The government pretty much gave them anything they wanted back when railroads were being built and those contracts are still in force today making them almost immune to any repercussions.

 

[Irish#1]

CEO about to testify in Congress and this happens. The hot seat just became white hot. lol

Norfolk Southern train derails in Alabama hours before CEO testifies before Congress

Thirty cars derailed Thursday around 6:45 a.m. in Calhoun County, Alabama. There were no reports of a hazardous leak.

www.nbcnews.com

 

[drayer54]

We deserve the asteroid.

 

[GATTACA!]

We deserve the asteroid.

Spoken like someone with a cis male carbon footprint.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

https://www.npr.org/2023/03/15/1163385168/sargassum-seaweed-florida-mexico-beaches

I'm inclined to just stay in the Midwest and deal with snow. LOL

 

[Irish#1]

https://www.npr.org/2023/03/15/1163385168/sargassum-seaweed-florida-mexico-beaches

I'm inclined to just stay in the Midwest and deal with snow. LOL

someone's going to figure out a way to make money off that.

 

[Rockin’Irish]

someone's going to figure out a way to make money off that.

It could always be harvested and used as feedstock for refining biodiesel 😊

 

[ab2cmiller]

Greta Thunberg recently received an Honorary Doctorate in Theology from the University of Helsinki.

 

[IRISHDODGER]

Greta Thunberg recently received an Honorary Doctorate in Theology from the University of Helsinki.

sounds about right.

 

[drayer54]

Climate is king.

 

[Irish#1]

 

[Bishop2b5]

Kerry is quite the tone deaf, pompous, horse's ass, isn't he?

 

[Rockin’Irish]

It’s the same old “do as I say, not as I do” mantra. It most always works better when you lead by example and people like Kerry that live a very privileged lifestyle don’t know how to do that.