How taxing organic products could save California's water shortage

Here is a disturbing article I just came across on Fox News, linked from National Review.

"How taxing organic products could save California's water shortage"

A couple quotes from the article...

"California is currently experiencing its fourth year of extreme drought, and in response Governor Jerry Brown has mandated a reduction of the state’s water use by 25%, proposing reductions in lawn acreages, rebates for replacing old toilets, and forbidding homeowners from using potable water for irrigation. However, environmental experts Terry L. Anderson, and Henry I. Miller, both fellows at Stanford University, claim to have a better idea. In their proposal “How Taxing Organic Products Could Solve California’s Water Shortage,” published last week on National Review Online, Anderson and Miller state the need for a revenue–neutral tax on all organic products (which would diminish their demand), while outlining how organic agriculture is less efficient and more wasteful than conventional and genetically engineered agriculture.

One can almost hear the all-natural crowd banging their drum circle bongos in protest."

I like this one as well...

"Even better than conventional agriculture are genetically engineered crops, which not only offer higher yields, but– according to Henry Miller– are, on average, safer as well. “The high precision and predictability of the newer molecular techniques make plant breeding surer and safer; in fact, they are actually being used to remove common and dangerous allergens from foods such as peanuts,” he told FoxNews.com. “In addition, the use of the newer techniques reduces dramatically the likelihood of mishaps, such as the ill-fated Lenape potato, seen with older methods of plant breeding.”

Faux News Link
National Review link

In other words... "That there unhealthy healthy food uses too much water, stick to the glyphosate cancer food groups."

This country is getting insane with lobbying. Is Monsanto writing the news now?

IMO...Large scale farming in dead soil cannot remotely compete with responsible farming practice using nutrient-rich, water holding and often mulch covered land used in organic food production.



Here is a little proof from a 30yr study by the Rodale institute...

Rodale 30 yr org vs chem study

a reply to: Mandroid7

Of course Fox News would promote such a stupid idea. I think you're right though, Monsanto must be writing the news now. I can't believe they are openly promoting the idea of taxing organic food to diminish market for it. What a great plan to destroy the market for actual good food while making a few bucks off it at the same time.

Everything is just Business and Economic Piracy with these people. Meanwhile bottling companies are pumping fresh water out of cali and selling back to us at a 1000% mark up & Energy companies are dumping their fracking waste in the clean ground water. But lets not talk about that, oh no. Let's tax the organic food market in to nonexistence. Great plan A-holes.

F*ck Stanford, F*ck Fox News and F*ck National Review.

Or they could grow organic using the new Israeli developed method.

There is a plantation where I live that started recently and said the same amount of land/water grants 200% to 600% higher crop yields using this method.

They raise a rectangle of dirt, insulate with plastic, and I am not sure what else they do. But it's incredibly easy and cheap to do it.

a reply to: OccamsRazor04
interesting, I will have to check it out!

yeah, there is pretty much no comparison if you want to get into hydroponics vs open fields as far as water savings go.

You can run long pvc pipes with only gravel and no soil, recirculating the water and nutrients, keeping neoprene collars around the stalks, avoiding all unneeded evaporation accept through the normal transpiration of the leaves.

Watering a black dirt field..goood luck

a reply to: Mandroid7
The first one is what Boone Hall looks like.

a reply to: OccamsRazor04

That's a great idea. The problem isn't knowing new methods. We know of new and better farming methods. But everything is corporate farming now and they are trying to use this to destroy the competition of Organic Farmers.

If they cared about the drought issue they'd be trying to use the water resources better, or finding ways of getting more water here or ways of wasting less of it. Instead they are suggesting a tax on their competition to drive them out of business. They aren't even being very sly about it this time. Organic Farming is tiny in comparison to big Corporate Farms and use a fraction of the water they use. Every Corporate Farm around here still uses flood irrigation and get subsidized on top of it. This is just their way to drive out what little competition they have because they might be losing a few bucks to actual farmers.

a reply to: mOjOm

We have only ourselves to blame. We vote in the people who do this every year.

a reply to: OccamsRazor04

very cool.

Man, that second pic is genius and cheap to build.
You cant beat that setup with the white plastic and drip irrigation.
It would really lock in the moisture.

Can someone please forward this to the fox news comments section?

..oh wait, they don't have one

a reply to: Mandroid7

The tour guide said it has been incredibly effective for them.

a reply to: OccamsRazor04

It goes well beyond that. Think about it this. The water usage in this state is 80% agriculture. The Gov. has mandated a 25% reduction for city and home use to help save some water. Golf courses and some businesses included. But not agriculture who uses 80% of it.

Even if every city used no water, we are still talking about 20% of the total being used. Yet you could easily save more than that by cutting back 5% from agriculture. But they won't because agriculture is a huge lobby in politics so you won't see them being restricted at all, but everyone living here is cut back 25% and in total we only use 20% of it to begin with.

Then just to add some pure insanity in there too, most of this area is also Conservative and Religious who claim that the drought is being caused by God punishing us because of Gay marriage. Does this sound like a people who are reasonable and are actually taking this situation serious??? Or is it the result of a bunch of greedy monkeys running a zoo of mentally challenged a-holes??? I say it's the second one.

We can talk about better farming methods all day but until political sh*theads stop being bought up with kickbacks and hookers covered in blow and Religious nutjobs none of it even matters. Because we are dealing with people who are so far out of touch in what is going on we might as well be talking Klingon Baby Talk because they won't hear anything over the mountain of BS that surrounds them at all times.

a reply to: mOjOm

The whole system in place is just retarded...it purely runs for profit...nothing else matters.....

Here is Australia we have drought problems,i am amazed how there is nothing in place to capture rainfall....in the cities and the burbs to capture the massive rainfalls.....it actually falls on the homeowner to get a water tank and be greener,all new housing should have underground tanks all set up with council help....
I just cannot understand how the people in charge can see only as far as their lifetimes and not to the future,in fact it makes sense that those in charge have been for many generations if not literally lifetimes that have seen the rise and destruction of humanity...these same people are still making the same mistakes through glutinous greed.....meh

originally posted by: mOjOm
Then just to add some pure insanity in there too, most of this area is also Conservative

If I am not mistaken the number of Democrats in Cali is more than 50% higher than the number of Republicans, both Senators are democrats, and 39 of the 53 Reps are Democrat.

a reply to: hopenotfeariswhatweneed

It really is like living in an insane asylum. Society in terms of political thinking is like some kind of nightmare you can't wake up from.

Greed and selfishness has polluted everything to the point that even those who are in charge are skipping happily to their own death and the death of their futures. But nobody seems to care. Corporations dominate everything and think of only profit regardless of the cost to humanity as a whole. Corruption is everywhere. Fanatics are everywhere. Nobody is honest about anything that is happening and greed has poisoned any possible avenue which might help.

This state is going to be a desert soon yet they're planning on building a bullet train across it for the price of 65 billion dollars. That's the latest price tag, which started off at 8 Billion and won't stop at 65 by the time it's done. Everyone is an idiot and deserves to die thirsty and alone sitting on top of their wealth while riding their bullet train to hell IMO.

a reply to: OccamsRazor04

Ya. I'm not blaming conservatives for the corruption. That belongs to the Dems and their greed in politics. The Conservatives play their part in the insanity also however, just not so much politically.

Also, when I talk about this area being conservative I'm talking about the valley. The major farming area. Politics is more based around cities.

originally posted by: mOjOm
a reply to: OccamsRazor04

Ya. I'm not blaming conservatives for the corruption. That belongs to the Dems and their greed in politics. The Conservatives play their part in the insanity also however, just not so much politically.

Also, when I talk about this area being conservative I'm talking about the valley. The major farming area. Politics is more based around cities.

Both parties are terrible, simply in different ways. Both are inept and corrupt.

a reply to: OccamsRazor04

Absolutely. Politics in general is horrible right now. Corporatism, if you can even call it that, is infecting everything. Everything is about lobbying and profit for the benefit of fewer and fewer that costs the many more and more. Out of control consumerism has brought us cheap thrills that don't last. More products that we don't need but seem compelled to buy that break twice as fast and deliver half of what they promise.

Leaders work for themselves and lead the masses in to early graves with later retirement. People work longer for less pay. We make lawmakers into entertainers and entertainers in to political talking heads. Companies spend millions in fines rather than spending thousands on proper design and production but it's fine because they've already spend millions to keep the fines low so in the end they profit billions.

We spend billions in advertising to promote crap nobody wants until they're convinced they must have it rather than spending those same billions to make a product that has real value that people would actually buy in the first place.

We are sick and a broken species and if we continue as we are going will most likely destroy ourselves which seems to be the one thing we do know how to do in spades. We'll probably just screw that up too though.

a reply to: mOjOm

I agree with you......looks like this is what happens when those that should be locked in the asylum end up running the show

From you above post to occamsrazor :

We make lawmakers into entertainers and entertainers in to political talking heads.

Once they were the kings fool,the jesters....now they make more money than most,are idol-ed by the masses and have a say in politics....simply madness

a reply to: Mandroid7

I am always glad to hear when people recognize that taxing industry is never a solution to any problem ever.

It doesn't matter if it is proposed by Monsanto or Greenpeace, economic oppression is always destructive and never reparative.

In California the democrats make up mostly the urban areas while the farming communities are conservative. Neither group has any winning ideas for how to fix this mess. I live in the San Joaquin Valley in the middle of the fruit and nut orchards. I receive irrigation for my property. The flood irrigation is extremely wasteful! We started our irrigation cycle weeks ago but I haven't turned mine on yet because it hasn't been hot and even when I do I won't be irrigating the whole property just my fruit trees. I'm surprised I even have the option to water since my land isn't essential farming. There's a lot of water being wasted. I'm just grateful my well is holding out... Some communities haven't been so lucky.

originally posted by: OccamsRazor04

originally posted by: mOjOm
Then just to add some pure insanity in there too, most of this area is also Conservative

If I am not mistaken the number of Democrats in Cali is more than 50% higher than the number of Republicans, both Senators are democrats, and 39 of the 53 Reps are Democrat.

a reply to: Mandroid7

Can we start taxing MSM for nonsense reports? deficits worldwide would be slashed.

look at lettuce, one of the most useless vegetables on the planet and the amount of water to sustain a crop of lettuce is ridiculous yet it is used in many fast food retailers.

This is where GMO's *gasp!* are the way of the future, Not the evil ones everybody talks about, but the responsible ones that can provide crops with higher yield but are less reliant on fresh water to survive.