41–50 of 405 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
A lot of water in California goes to farming. They'll have to close farms, which will drive up prices of produce.
Until new farms capitalize on the opportunity to capture the market in places where there's an abundance of water.
I wish there was some way to change prices to alter demand. Maybe a "task force of thought leaders" can crack open an Econ 101 textbook and look at the supply and demand curve on the first page. Sorry for the sarcasm, I'm just disappointed in the "reach for regulation first" approach to dealing with shortages.
You're right, if people can't afford water to drink, they're clearly not valuable enough to live. If a farm can't afford water for crops, the crops weren't profitable enough to grow anyway. And if the rest of the nation can't afford food since some foods will be scarce without California farms, they should just be more productive. No need for regulation!
I suppose you're trying to be sarcastic but this is the plain truth. Government should make some effort to help people prosper. It shouldn't be propping up unsustainable business because of short term economic benefits.
I wish there was some way to change prices to alter demand. Maybe a "task force of thought leaders" can crack open an Econ 101 textbook and look at the supply and demand curve on the first page. Sorry for the sarcasm, I'm just disappointed in the "reach for regulation first" approach to dealing with shortages.
You're right, if people can't afford water to drink, they're clearly not valuable enough to live. If a farm can't afford water for crops, the crops weren't profitable enough to grow anyway. And if the rest of the nation can't afford food since some foods will be scarce without California farms, they should just be more productive. No need for regulation!
Maybe I skimmed the article a bit fast, but I saw no mention of desalination plants, which are the obvious solution (though expensive and as far as I'm aware not implemented yet).
http://www.noozhawk.com/article/santa_barbara_desalination_p...
http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_25859513/nations-large...
I wish there was some way to change prices to alter demand. Maybe a "task force of thought leaders" can crack open an Econ 101 textbook and look at the supply and demand curve on the first page. Sorry for the sarcasm, I'm just disappointed in the "reach for regulation first" approach to dealing with shortages.
Are you serious? You want WATER to have its price raised to reflect the realities in California? All that would do is screw all the poor and middle class people and it would do nothing to solve the shortage. Put down Atlas Shrugged for a minute and look at reality. The whole state of California has always been on water welfare, and if it weren't life there would be untenable for anyone who wasn't extremely wealthy. I…
You're right, it has always been stupid to farm in California. Now it's coming back to bit people in the ass.
I wish there was some way to change prices to alter demand. Maybe a "task force of thought leaders" can crack open an Econ 101 textbook and look at the supply and demand curve on the first page. Sorry for the sarcasm, I'm just disappointed in the "reach for regulation first" approach to dealing with shortages.
Are you serious? You want WATER to have its price raised to reflect the realities in California? All that would do is screw all the poor and middle class people and it would do nothing to solve the shortage. Put down Atlas Shrugged for a minute and look at reality. The whole state of California has always been on water welfare, and if it weren't life there would be untenable for anyone who wasn't extremely wealthy. I…
So, there isn't enough water, people don't want to move to where there is water, what's your solution?
Water costs, whether thats to pump it out of the ground, import it from places that do have water, or desalinate it. Someone has to pay for that. Would it not be those who use the water?
This could be a boon for middle eastern water companies (Israel has some geniuses in this space) for selling into California. There are a few tactics for tackling this problem (disclaimer: I didn't read the article) - Reduction of waste (leaks, more efficient plumbing, rationing) - Desalination (only useful along the coast) - Deep wells - water extraction from the air - water recycling - what else?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
You're right, if people can't afford water to drink, they're clearly not valuable enough to live. If a farm can't afford water for crops, the crops weren't profitable enough to grow anyway. And if the rest of the nation can't afford food since some foods will be scarce without California farms, they should just be more productive. No need for regulation!
The first argument is specious, because the government could just pay for drinking water for people who can't afford it, like they do for food. Drinking water is a small percentage of the overall usage anyway. As for your other points, yes. Allowing farmers to use a common resource for free effectively subsidizes them. It'd make a lot more sense for everyone to grow those crops in places like Florida instead of in th…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
A lot of water in California goes to farming. They'll have to close farms, which will drive up prices of produce.
Until new farms capitalize on the opportunity to capture the market in places where there's an abundance of water.
EDIT: I help my uncle manage a farm in Florida. The startup times are seriously ridiculous.