Drought Parches most of the U.S.

CNN posted an article today about how droughts are going to be more prevalent in the coming years. And not necessarily because of Global Warming.

“At least 36 states expect to face water shortages within the next five years, according to a report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. According to the National Drought Mitigation Center, several regions in particular have been hit hard: the Southeast, Southwest and the West. Texas, Georgia and South Carolina have suffered the worst droughts this year, the agency said….”

“…The droughts are caused by rapid population growth and unwise agricultural choices.”

I hate how these articles make this seem like some big new development. This has been an ongoing issue for years. Heck I posted about the documentary “A Diet for a new America by John Robbins back in January of ’07. He touched on a lot of scientific points that made a lot of sense to me, especially about the amount of water we use irrigating crops to feed cattle. One of the men in his video did a comparison to elementary school children about how much use they could get out of a gallon of water. Which equals 12lbs of grain, or 1lb of meat.

Watch, it’s pretty interesting. I love it, even if it is dated. The fact that he supposedly refused his fathers Baskin Robbin’s fortune because he wanted to support a more ethical foundation and healthier means of living.

To be honest, my desire for red meat has dwindled so much this year. I’m a happy carnivore, and I do love a good steak. But I really can’t stand eating a lot of red meat anymore. I like white meats, and even with white meats I want to try and learn to eat more beans instead and try to focus on eating white meat that I raise myself. And I do really think that eating less meat, or at least attempting to lessen the demand for commercialized meat that it would help the water supply as well.

Not only that, but my sweetheart knows someone who works in a steel building that makes steel or does something with steel, I don’t know what exactly. But they use water to filter through their walls to keep the building from literally melting. I think their water bill is like a million dollars a month or some other absurdly high number. I’ve no doubt that there are many businesses that use insufficient methods for using their water like this.

It’s really a big mixing bowl of problems, and it’s going to take a lot of work to fix it. We just need the support to do it.