The Conservative Cave
Current Events => The DUmpster => Topic started by: Rockntractor on December 23, 2012, 12:22:29 PM
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Star Member Liberal_in_LA (27,163 posts)
Pot farms wreaking havoc on Northern California environment
Burgeoning marijuana growing operations are sucking millions of gallons of water from coho salmon lifelines and taking other environmental tolls, scientists say.
Wildlife technician Aaron Pole surveys a forest trashed by growers. Carbofuran, an insecticide lethal to humans in small doses, is found regularly at large-scale pot farms. Also flowing into the watershed are rodenticides, fungicides, diesel fuel and other pollutants (Genaro Molina, Los Angeles Times / November 15, 2012)
State scientists, grappling with an explosion of marijuana growing on the North Coast, recently studied aerial imagery of a small tributary of the Eel River, spawning grounds for endangered coho salmon and other threatened fish.
In the remote, 37-square-mile patch of forest, they counted 281 outdoor pot farms and 286 greenhouses, containing an estimated 20,000 plants — mostly fed by water diverted from creeks or a fork of the Eel. The scientists determined the farms were siphoning roughly 18 million gallons from the watershed every year, largely at the time when the salmon most need it.
"That is just one small watershed," said Scott Bauer, the state scientist in charge of the coho recovery on the North Coast for the Department of Fish and Game. "You extrapolate that for all the other tributaries, just of the Eel, and you get a lot of marijuana sucking up a lot of water.… This threatens species we are spending millions of dollars to recover."
The marijuana boom that came with the sudden rise of medical cannabis in California has wreaked havoc on the fragile habitats of the North Coast and other parts of California. With little or no oversight, farmers have illegally mowed down timber, graded mountaintops flat for sprawling greenhouses, dispersed poisons and pesticides, drained streams and polluted watersheds.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-pot-enviro-20121223,0,2903043.story
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=2059068
Oh my, what a dilemma!
modified by franksolich so as to improve format
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Don't worry, the primitives will come up with a way to defend both causes at once, and at the same time blame Republicans.
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Dopers are always so selfish. It doesn't surprise me at all that they would destroy the world around them for their weed.
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If it comes down to a choice between environmentalism and drugs, liberals will ALWAYS go for the drugs.
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Dopers vs the eco-nazis? Oh now this could get really entertaining!!! :popcorn: :popcorn:
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Dopers vs the eco-nazis? Oh now this could get really entertaining!!! :popcorn: :popcorn:
So often, the ones I have met are a toxic puddle of hypocrisy contained in the same person.
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So often, the ones I have met are a toxic puddle of hypocrisy contained in the same person.
Yep. That is what will make it entertaining. I can see long, long threads at the dump on this.
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then there are the shoot outs getting it to market. Hypocrisy :stoner: :drink:
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And yet those cheeba-heads think pot is a "mellowing" drug.
Asshats.
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I wonder how many of these fry brains are using ( heaven forbid) guns to guard their weed?
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I wonder how many of these fry brains are using ( heaven forbid) guns to guard their weed?
Uh, I'll take, "All Of Them" for $1000, Alex.
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I wonder how many of these fry brains are using ( heaven forbid) guns to guard their weed?
Doesn't matter -
They probably aren't NRA members, so its all good. its only the NRA gun owners the primitives are concerned about.
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Doesn't matter -
They probably aren't NRA members, so its all good. its only the NRA gun owners the primitives are concerned about.
What he said! DUmmies only fear guns in the hand of people who have NEVER committed a crime.
Fast and Furious killed HUNDREDS of Mexican civilians. No big deal to Liberals.
But if your neighbor has a gun? Well sir, that has to stop right there! zero tolerance!
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I wonder if the increase in pot growers is adding to globull warming/climate change. :whatever:
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"That is just one small watershed," said Scott Bauer, the state scientist in charge of the coho recovery on the North Coast for the Department of Fish and Game. "You extrapolate that for all the other tributaries, just of the Eel, and you get a lot of marijuana sucking up a lot of water.… This threatens species we are spending millions of dollars to recover."
Uh, oh, pot smokers endangering the snail darter ??? say it aint so....
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The federal government has damaged food farms in the area by not allowing them adequate water for legitimate food crops. Will they go after the pot farmers that are breaking federal drug laws?
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From reading the thread: apparently it's the government's fault for making it illegal.
So what happens when the government makes soda, carbon and guns illegal?