21–30 of 91 posts
"thirsty grains like rice and wheat".. Yet again no mention of animal agriculture. How much water a day does a cow need Vs wheat?
When people use a resource, they should pay more than just the cost of extracting it. They should also pay for its underlying value, which bears some relation to the price you would pay if the resource were no longer available. Such prices would signal to users the actual scarcity of the resource, giving them incentive to reduce waste and find alternatives. It would also spur development of desalination and other tec…
I don't disagree, but it is still a scary prospect. Humans need water. We don't need gas, or oil, heck we can even survive without electricity. We can make do. But we die without water, and it is worrying to imagine a scenario where some people can no longer afford water because the price went up due to any number of factors. The price of a resource fluctuates for reasons not always related to the actual resources in…
Every person gets a free daily "survival" quota. Above that, you pay market. The latter subsidises the former. You pay less for your drinking water and more for your lawns and alfalfa.
Wait, what? A global water shortage is one problem that global warming would actually help fix. There might be local droughts, but it's meteorologically obvious that higher temperatures = higher evaporation = higher global rainfall. A warm ocean pumps out more water vapor, and warm air can hold more moisture (which is why Antarctica is so dry).
When people use a resource, they should pay more than just the cost of extracting it. They should also pay for its underlying value, which bears some relation to the price you would pay if the resource were no longer available. Such prices would signal to users the actual scarcity of the resource, giving them incentive to reduce waste and find alternatives. It would also spur development of desalination and other tec…
I don't disagree, but it is still a scary prospect. Humans need water. We don't need gas, or oil, heck we can even survive without electricity. We can make do. But we die without water, and it is worrying to imagine a scenario where some people can no longer afford water because the price went up due to any number of factors. The price of a resource fluctuates for reasons not always related to the actual resources in…
When water is cheap, you may see people spraying down a sidewalk during a drought when they could use a broom. Raise the price and their behavior changes.
And if you're worried that people can't afford water for they personal use, what I advocated was each citizen getting paid their share of the water revenue.
And that actually would go UP during a drought, more than the cost of their own direct personal use. That's because INDUSTRY uses the most water.
They would, of course, pay more for the products of industry.
And things like shipping bottled water from California during a drought might become a thing of the past. As it probably should.
"thirsty grains like rice and wheat".. Yet again no mention of animal agriculture. How much water a day does a cow need Vs wheat?
Is anywhere not facing a water shortage? Where is it "best managed" or "least bad"
Most of the USA East Cost, and the Gulf of Mexico for that matter, do fine. In Alabama it almost rains too much for agriculture.
"Rising temperatures and growing demands for thirsty grains like rice and wheat could drain much of the world’s groundwater in the next few decades, new research warns." Wait, what? A global water shortage is one problem that global warming would actually help fix. There might be local droughts, but it's meteorologically obvious that higher temperatures = higher evaporation = higher global rainfall. A warm ocean pump…
"Rising temperatures and growing demands for thirsty grains like rice and wheat could drain much of the world’s groundwater in the next few decades, new research warns." Wait, what? A global water shortage is one problem that global warming would actually help fix. There might be local droughts, but it's meteorologically obvious that higher temperatures = higher evaporation = higher global rainfall. A warm ocean pump…
It doesn't help the Southern US if Central America has higher rainfall.
i.e. there is no guarantee that the rain falls where it's needed for farming. Much the opposite, as it turns out.
When people use a resource, they should pay more than just the cost of extracting it. They should also pay for its underlying value, which bears some relation to the price you would pay if the resource were no longer available. Such prices would signal to users the actual scarcity of the resource, giving them incentive to reduce waste and find alternatives. It would also spur development of desalination and other tec…
I don't disagree, but it is still a scary prospect. Humans need water. We don't need gas, or oil, heck we can even survive without electricity. We can make do. But we die without water, and it is worrying to imagine a scenario where some people can no longer afford water because the price went up due to any number of factors. The price of a resource fluctuates for reasons not always related to the actual resources in…