315 Comments

That people, including plenty of young people, continue to flock to desert cities like Phoenix, gives me little hope that we will ever accept the reality of climate change until it is far too late, assuming it's not already too late.

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Hey they just want to make air conditioning great again, donchaknow.

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Maybe it's just me but if were looking to lease land to bogart all the underground water Arizona would not be high on my list.

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Fuck oil. Fuck gold, too, for that matter. The most precious commodities on Earth are potable water and arable land.

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yet another example of humans forcing an environment to support an industry that environment isn't designed for - growing a crop that has high water dependency in a desert? genius move

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yeah, I'll never understand it, either; maybe it's something about a desert and the lack of oversight...

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Good for Arizona's governor, but the US government (the Biden Administration for now) is screaming and threatening Mexico for cancelling various water-depleting "consessiions" here in Mexico, especially those in the export beer and mineral industries.

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While I love love love seeing Boss Hobbs lay it down, alfalfa from AZ also fuels the farts and curds from our own domestic cheese ports. Hooomans are genius-level doer’s of what ultimately turns out to be dumb shit.

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About damn time! It's been a horriblehorribleterrible thing here for far too long.

Maybe the Sauds can get Javanka to tow an iceberg to them instead.

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Alfalfa is a water intensive crop. Farming it in AZ? Stupid! Should be illegal for everyone. Cotton is thirsty too, and murder on the soil

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Yeah, they tried Almond farming there too....ridiculous...

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which is one of the reasons why I won't use almond beverages...why the fuck should I drink something that uses MORE water?

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Repub-supporting farmers use Colorado river water, which is in short supply, to grow it in Imperial Valley, CA.

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The Saudis need to go to Jared.

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Oh they will. Expect this to go to the supreme court where The Conservatives decide that saudi royals have the same personhood as corporations and farming is free speech.

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I hate how realistic this sounds.

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Perhaps Kari Lake can convince the Saudis that they actually got all their water, but the deep state is just hiding that from them? Possibly because of bamboo?

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Just as soon as you can find another lawyer to send in the paperwork, Rudy. Because your attorneys are running from you faster than your cheap hair dye.

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“When it comes time to hang the capitalists, they will vie with each other for the rope contract.”

is a quote attributed to Lenin, the communist, not the Beatle, by one Major George Racey Jordan...

I'm wondering what other commercial interests that are potential security problems our frenemies have been obtaining while not 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 literally nobody was looking.

We will see how the government 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 feels about rule-of-law should there be big move to divest from America and foreclose on any notes they hold.

I'm interested, not really concerned, because the relationships that the Chinese or Saudi moneybelts have with their American counterparts are too lucrative to let much get in their way

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we're already seeing that in my part of the world. Argentina had a president forced to resign after a privatized water company set us huge demonstrations, Here in Mexico, beer exporters vs. Farmers have led to massive political fights, and the Yaqui Nation has been fighting over its water rights since the 19th century, lately getting more and more intense.

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About time! The next cash boom will be for water not oil.

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I grew up with the saying "whiskey's for drinking, water's for fighting over." It's truer now than ever.

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I've lived it most of my life here in the Owens Valley.

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The privatization of water and of municipal water systems in the US is a horrible trend that voters need to start paying attention to.

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Damn skippy, Abbie. In the valley even if it’s raining they water because they have entitlements to a certain amount and if I understand correctly if they don’t use it, they lose it. No rewards for conservation. Chokes out little farmers and favors monoculture far too much.

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The Saudis have enough money to subsidize research and development of large scale desalinization and be heroes for doing so. Because a lot of places could really use that technology.

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Oil companies in general have enough money to do a lot of good things. Don't hold your breath.

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there are folks asking about why gasoline costs so much more in EU than here. This is a good chart that explains why

Hint: Is is all contingent on the excise tax each country levies + other country specific taxes

https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/federal/oecd-gas-tax/

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They account for some larger proportion* of externalities in the taxes, versus the US which accounts for 0ish externalities but subsidizes the profits.

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