Four years ago an eminent climate researcher named Michael Oppenheimer at Princeton published a study predicting that climate change would increase the chance of a devastating drought hitting Mexico. He warned that it could drive farmers from their fields and send them across the border looking for work. a new study published in the prestigiousContinue reading “Drought hits Central America: as predicted?”
Monthly Archives: September 2014
Record CA drought hits illegal pot grows
From a story in last week's Ojai Valley News:
Three years ago, local narcotics officers eradicated about 168,000 marijuana plants from Ventura County's backcountry.
This year, they've found much less — closer to 100,000.
So is that good news or bad?
Neither, say law enforcement officials. California's historic drought is drying up more than just lakes and reservoirs, it's draining the creeks and aquifers far upstream — the ones that marijuana growers utilize to water their gardens, which often contain thousands of plants.
"We had one up in Coyote Creek … and half of the grow was abandoned," said Sgt. Mike Horne of the Ventura County Sheriff's Office (VCSO) Narcotics Bureau. "They're just running out of water." In another grow near the Ortega Trail, he added, "When we went to cut it, it was gone — the reservoir had dried up."
Arguably this is burying the lede. It's not a question of good news or bad news. It's simpler — the drought is devastating everyone, even the illegal farmers ready and willing to cut corners.We may recall the Biblical words from Matthew: the rain falls on the just and the unjust alike. Here's a new version: the drought hits the law-abiding farmers and the unlawful farmer alike.
More detail from Misty Volaski, editor of the paper, below the fold, with a pic from a back country grow in Rose Valley busted last month.
Neil Young: Meet Stephen Harper (of Canada)
Early this year Neil Young toured Canada as part of anti tar-sands effort, allying himself with the First Nations groups who accuse Canada of ruining their ancestral lands. This prompted an angry response from Stephen Harper, the climate change denying and oil promoting Prime Minister. And a cute cartoon… What rock star action in theContinue reading “Neil Young: Meet Stephen Harper (of Canada)”
Kit Stolz 