https://twitter.com/rahll/status/1815481828008141212
This is insane. The Taiwanese government is paying farmers to NOT grow rice because they need the water for AI chip manufacturing instead. We're prioritizing AI over feeding people during a drought. https://t.co/Jd3qieucUT pic.twitter.com/dchH1CvT0U
— Reid Southen (@Rahll) July 22, 2024
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Leftoids seethe when people like me say this about nuts in California (versus crops that produce more pounds but fewer dollars per gallon of water). Same issue, except there is not even a national security angle to the question of crops in CA.
Wingcucks and the unquestioning pursuit of policies that are only superficially sensical: an iconic duo. !grillers
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If California stops growing almonds like leftoids want 80% of all almonds worldwide would disappear. 100% of America's almonds supply. Say goodbye to almond joys and anything else
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Why can't you grow almonds in East Texas or Missisipi where there's unlimited water?
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The Mediterranean climate of wet winters with dry summers is perfect. With some of the most developed infrastructure for water supply, the Central Valley is able to completely control how much crops get hydrated in a way few places can't. This turns the weakness of California's water situation into a positive, though has some consequences.
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He won't answer this bb
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Oh no whatever will we do without almonds
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They also grow rice in California which is fricking r-slurred and Cajunphobic
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California is such an unbelievably r-slurred state. They should axe all the water-intensive agriculture
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California has primo agricultural land but they waste it for the most random shit
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Avocados help make the HR and yoga instructor world go around.
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We obviously should be growing corn and soybeans instead
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You create an import dependency for a resource you cannot do without which is bad.
The only reason throwing away water availability from a local source makes sense is if you are using it to secure something else even more important like national security through chip manufacturing.
There is a reason energy independence is a geopolitical concept. At home always beats from outside when you want to remain independent.
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I already called out this topic:
In the case of CA, it would not be a national security issue to have a less-varied but nutritional diet if America got cut off from imports. Many things would just move production to other states, though.
Taiwan is potentially risking self-sustainability for food, but it's probably worthwhile for the comparative revenue.
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Just to clarify, are you saying that California should or should not ban the use of water for heavily water dependent crops to increase the amount of local water availability?
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What import dependency? If push comes to shove they just go back to rice farming. It's not like the farms rust without use or that the land is being destroyed.
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It takes 105 to 180 days to grow rice.
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Fortunately there are things called strategic stores which can store rice to cover these 105-180 days in case of an invasion. Much cheaper to maintain these (note: you can fill them with imported rice too) than dedicating your scarce water to literal rice in peacetime.
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Just keep a bunch of rice in a building. Call it the national rice reserve. Easy
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nice.
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Agriculture is like 2% of their economy
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Yes, which means the only other concern is what happens if they get isolated by mainland China. As long as they have enough food to handle a reasonably likely contingency, then I totally support diverting it to chips.
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I'm referring to california
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tbf, aren't most leftoids (or at least all the eco-friendly hippie-types, either genuine or for show) angry at the amount of almonds/pistachios grown in Cali too?
Cuz, you know...it uses up a lot of water (which ain't so common out there) for crops that iirc get shipped internationally (often to china) or something...and this is all largely due to Big Ag policies that allows them to have so much land/water...
idk
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Yes, which is exactly what I'm saying.
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Ahhhh...my bad
…tho admittedly, almond/pistachio crops are a bit more of a luxury than a necessity compared to corn and wheat so I guess it's not as a big deal if they don't prioritize them (even though i won't be reccomedning people to endlessly chop these nut trees like so many people would like to)...
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