Towheeblog

Here in the US, we can expect our Supreme Court to demolish the Clean Water Act, much to the joy of polluters from pig-pens to oil refineries. Click here.

Another, more explosive situation, are the multiple leaks in Russian natural gas lines. Like we needed more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The breaks are near Sweden and Denmark and scientists say there were explosions. Click here.

Sure, lawns in Vegas, San Diego, Phoenix and other arid places are really dumb, but grass is not the biggest waster of water here in the arid American West. Click here. The real beef is about beef…and milk…and what we buy at the grocery (like almonds). Click here to read the whole study.

Look on page three of the study and you see that corn and alfalfa are the two thirstiest farm crops in low-water parts of the US. But look at the commercial and industrial stat! And this study deals ONLY with surface water, rivers and streams. Don’t even think about what we are doing with nearly irreplaceable ground water in arid states. You pump it in Michigan and Nature replaces it. Not in Montana. Again, much of the precious western ground-water is pumped up and spread over crops. Here’s a study done in 2015.

Then there are the marvelous chemicals we release that end up in ground water (and streams), from plastics to pesticides to prescription drugs.

We can only thank our petrochemical friends, for their generosity and lack of profiteering, for their fine appreciation of water and its uses. Even sixty years ago we knew the oil barons were water wantons–click here. Still, they’re minimal compared to the John Wayne wannabes of The New West. Click here. Ranch on, baby. Hey, you gotta a beef with that?

It is time for a newly-formed environmental group to fight some water waster wars in court. The existing groups gave up long ago. Even many Christian White Nationalist voters take showers and believe in brushing their teeth. Water is widely believed to be real, not a hoax. We could do a poll to show it is broadly liked, trusted even. No water, lousy communion, powdery baptism, etc.

This needed new group should sue over ignorant use of groundwater that should belong to the nation, not Rancher X, Oil Corp B or Hay Grower A. Also, tell the Saudis they can’t buy more land here and then use our water to feed hay to their horses. Our ancient water laws are almost as destructive as our pro-slavery Constitution that gives an unpopulated Wyoming the same two senators it allows California and other states where people actually live.