A word up to the environmentalists
We are squandering our resources, wasting our water, etc... etc... etc...
You hear this every day. The facts? Not so. From
Mother Jones Magazine:
US Uses Less Water Now Than 35 Years Ago
This news is particularly relevant heading into Copenhagen... for those who think conservation of any kind is impossible or unattainable or out of keeping with American goals.
The US Geological Survey released a study today showing that Americans used less water in 2005 than 35 years ago�despite a 30 percent population increase. Most of the decline is attributable to alternative cooling methods at power plants and to more efficient irrigation systems.
(The AAAS reminds us that some commercial farmers in the US have doubled the crops they grow with a given amount of irrigation water by using sub-surface drip irrigation.)
In 2005, 297 million Americans used 410 billion gallons of water per day. That's 5 percent less than in 1980, the year of peak water use, when there were 227 million Americans. Or 1.4 billion gallons of water per day per American in 2005, compared with ~2 billion gallons per person per day in 1980. Not bad. And a reminder that trends can be managed, not just suffered.
Repeat after me: Technology is good. Technology is good...
Posted by DaveH at November 5, 2009 8:58 AM