fishonjazz
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One problem with electricity is that it seems like in todays society everyone is afraid of the dark. Almost every house has exterior lights on all night. way more street lights than when I was growing up. My wife has to leave an interior light on whenever we leave the house. We use (waste) way more electricity today than we used to.Yeah when they were putting in the first gasoline networks, it followed the development and proliferfation of the car, and vice versa. So it was organic and didn't really cause any issues systemically. Now, however, with millions of cars on the roads, and electrical infrastructure already taxed just taking care of our lust for constant light and netflix, building an electrical support system for autos is lagging badly behind. And I do not see it catching up anytime soon.
Maybe we need to be more selective about which industries will get supported, as industry takes a disproportional amount of energy. Do we need, I don't know, funko-pops or whatever as badly as we need, say, food or clothing? Even on that level, do we need say sriracha (notoriously bad for the environment and energy intensive in the manufacturing process) as badly as we need bread, or vegetables? At some point we will need to make some of these decisions. We are heading to a tipping point, it might still be decades out but it takes decades to prepare for it and we are already facing an uphill battle. This applies not just to energy like electricity and natural gas, and gasoline, but also water. For example, almond production in California alone uses up to 13% of the TOTAL water supply. Are almonds more important than other agricultural uses? Agriculture in general in California uses up to 80% of the total water supply, which includes raising animals for meat and milk and such.
I think at some point we will be driven to re-evaluate all this stuff and determine what is necessary for us as a species and what is a "nice to have" and we will have to make some tough choices. Frankly it should start sooner rather than later, but we as a species are nothing if not procrastinating. Anything we can kick down the road for our own comfort or advantage, we will, unless directly forced to confront it. I know personally I do not want to give up things like meat and cheese and milk products, nor avocados and almonds, 2 of the worst crops for water usage compared to the benefit gained on the whole. But at some point we won't have a choice.
A look at water usage in Cali, particularly from almond production.
California Almond Water Usage — California Water Impact Network
This page was updated on September 23rd 2024. Given their vast acreages and high water requirements, almonds are a controversial crop in California. They’ve also sparked disputes because they are largely an export crop, with 80% of the annual harvest shipped overseas. Here are some bwww.c-win.org
