***As news about California’s ongoing drought continues to worsen (it’s now about to cause EARTHQUAKES, apparently…), we thought we’d re-offer this old post as a reminder that their current water shortage was not only predictable, but also largely preventable. Something to think about as that state’s agriculture-based economy continues to crater, and our nation’s food prices continue to soar. —JTR
Recently, our Feckless Leader reached new heights of ingenuousness, as he sought to “rescue” us from a problem which he and his ideological buddies created in the first place:
(via Yahoo! News) – “…President Barack Obama toured parts of California’s drought zone on Friday and pledged to speed help to the No. 1 farm state, but he said harsh weather in the United States will get worse until more steps are taken to address climate change.
California is coming off its driest year on record and a recent winter storm did little to dull the impact of the drought in the state that produces half the country’s fruits and vegetables. A recent drought monitor said 91.6 percent of the state is experiencing severe to exceptional drought…”
In the absence of context, this is kinda-sorta true: California isindeed experiencing a terrible drought, and the winter is doing little to alleviate the situation. What’s deliberately missing is WHY this is such a problem right now. And no, it hasn’t a whit to do with Climate Change. Continue reading →
Over the weekend, our Feckless Leader reached new heights (depths?) of ingenuousness, as he sought to “rescue” us from a problem which he and his ideological buddies created in the first place:
(via Yahoo! News) – “…President Barack Obama toured parts of California’s drought zone on Friday and pledged to speed help to the No. 1 farm state, but he said harsh weather in the United States will get worse until more steps are taken to address climate change.
California is coming off its driest year on record and a recent winter storm did little to dull the impact of the drought in the state that produces half the country’s fruits and vegetables. A recent drought monitor said 91.6 percent of the state is experiencing severe to exceptional drought…”
In the absence of context, this is kinda-sorta true: California is indeed experiencing a terrible drought, and the winter is doing little to alleviate the situation. What’s deliberately missing is WHY this is such a problem right now.
And no, it hasn’t a whit to do with Climate Change.
For many years now, water has been one of the most profitable markets in the beverage industry. However, that enviable perch may be in danger if this new study is true.
If you can’t stomach the thought of guzzling down eight glasses of water every single day, here’s some good news: You’re off the hook, more health experts are saying.
A new editorial in an Australian public health journal is the latest to bust the widely-repeated health myth we need to guzzle 64 ounces, or eight 8-ounce glasses, of water each day just to stave off dehydration. Actually, we get enough fluids to keep our bodies adequately hydrated from the foods we eat and the beverages we drink — even from caffeinated drinks like coffee and tea.
Turns out, the whole “eight glasses a day” thing “really is no longer the recommendation; the recommendation is drinking to thirst,” explains Madelyn Fernstrom, a board-certified nutrition specialist and TODAY’s diet and nutrition editor.
Drink when you’re thirsty! What a novel idea.
I’ve never consumed eight 8-ounce glasses of water in a day, possibly ever. My logic is pretty simple: how many of us have observed our co-workers going through water like they just spent the last 6 months in the Mojave? They don’t seem to be any healthier than WE are.
Or someone who always eats their half-a-dozen donuts and a bag of chips with a tall glass of water, ’cause that evens things out?
Puh-lease….
Like the study says, I only drink water when I’m thirsty. So far I haven’t been rushed to the ER due to dehydration; so far, so good, I say.
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Please note that the authors of this study included coffee in their list. Much to my wife’s chagrin, I have long maintained that I like water as much as the next guy: I simply prefer it heated, and poured over coffee beans. Looks like my coffee habit now makes me a health nut. Who knew?
Last summer, a paper published in the British Medical Journal grabbed headlines when it called the myth “nonsense” — thoroughly debunked nonsense,” for that matter, citing reports in 2002 and 2006 that couldn’t find any “clear evidence from drinking increased amounts of water.”
Yet the myth sticks around, likely because people have made a lot of money off the idea that we’re all on the precipice of dehydration. (And we’re definitely not — government research on more than 15,000 people in 50 states show that over three years, the average American ingested 75 ounces of water a day, Carroll points out.)
“(B)ottled water and the entire health culture around drinking more water have been very lucrative,” Vreeman explains. “Certainly, your body needs fluids and water is a healthy choice to meet those fluid needs, but many of us spend a lot of money, effort and guilt on forcing ourselves to drink more water than we really need.”
The primary beneficiary of this fascination with drinking water all day long has been the bottled water industry, and so they will likely be the ones who’ll try to debunk the debunking, or just ignore this study altogether. You have to hand it to them: the bottled water industry has possibly the best PR team ever. How else do you explain charging confiscatory rates for something that falls, free, from the sky? They’ve even convinced consumers to have developed loyalty to different brands of bottled water, which is stunning to me. Brand loyalty to WATER?
These guys are scary good.
Of course, when you can come up with a commercial as memorable as this one was, as far as I’m concerned, you deserve your success:
Last year, southern Arizona fell victim to a natural disaster. Dubbed the Monument Fire (since it started in the Coronado National Monument), it claimed roughly 30,000 acres in a two-week period.
(The Monument Fire)…denuded the hillsides of vegetation. After the fire, record-breaking monsoon rains hit the region, triggering huge mudslides that left boulders the size of cars tumbling down hillsides.
The slides crushed Tombstone’s mountain spring waterlines and destroyed reservoirs for the town’s main water supply network.
Tombstone’s main water source are springs bubbling up in Miller Canyon, but the recent flooding after the fire has messed it all up.
Jack Wright, Tombstone’s Water Operator said, “It’s moved some boulders through here. You have seen caverns that didn’t exist. This was a drivable road a month ago.”
And then, …the real disaster happened. A Federal Government agency showed up.
George Barnes, Tombstone’s city clerk and manager, explained to The Daily Caller that since many of the pipelines are in a “wilderness area,” the U.S. Forest Service will not allow the mechanized equipment needed to fix the water-lines into the area for environmental reasons.
“We began working with the Forest Service but then we realized and found what an incredible boondoggle that could be, even though we are very confident we have a special status because our rights there pre-existed the Forest Service and even the BLM [Bureau of Land Management]. We were there long before anything and all we are asking is to fix our stuff,” Barnes said.
……instead of allowing repairs as has happened in the past, “federal bureaucrats are refusing to allow Tombstone to unearth its springs and restore its water-lines unless [city officials] jump through a lengthy permitting process that will require the city to use horses and hand tools to remove boulders the size of Volkswagens.”
Got all that?
A town, here in the United States, in the year 2012, needs to get their drinkingwaterback, and a Federal agency says, “Sure, but please use machinery from ….the 1800’s, okay? Have a nice day!”
Tombstone is fighting this in court, but they need to win quickly, since a slow victory will still be a loss for whatever townspeople are left.
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This whole fiasco is eerily reminiscent of the California case back in 2009 with the San Joaquin Valley vs. the delta smelt, the main difference being this time the concern isn’t people’s livelihoods but rather their lives.
I have no idea whether this is merely typical, everyday environmental extremism, or just the latest example of federal overreach gone mad. And I really don’t want to consider the possibility that it has anything to do with President Petulant’s previous issueswith the state of Arizona.
***As news about California’s ongoing drought continues to worsen (it’s now about to cause EARTHQUAKES, apparently…), we thought we’d re-offer this old post as a reminder that their current water shortage was not only predictable, but also largely preventable. Something to think about as that state’s agriculture-based economy continues to crater, and our nation’s food prices continue to soar. —JTR
Two Heads are Better Than One 