"The marijuana Boom is contributing to the climate crisis". See details below.. Isn't 1% a very tiny amount?
Per Kelly Crandell, Analyst for EQ Research. Growing marijuana accounts for 1% of the energy use in the states of Colorado and Washington. Why is that a big deal?
There is a point to it. I mean lighted indoor and greenhouse growing of any crop uses lots of energy and we know any kind of farm runoff has effects on the environment. That said this is a fact being blown out of proportion to spread anti-pot propaganda.
It's not as if greenhouse tomatoes and other similarly produced crops are contributing any less.
( Yes 1% is a very tiny amount. Most "shock statistics" used to promote agendas use very small percentages.)
Well, we do use an awful lot of energy, so 1% of an awful lot is...... quite a bit I suppose.
There are many places around the world where weed can be grown without all the hothousing and expense. Remember, the expense is to get a bigger crop, faster in order to get a quicker turnaround and more profit. Large parts of the US are among these areas, along with lots of North Africa and quite a few other places.
The issue here isn't the environment, or weed, or anything else. I think it's our refusal to accept that some things shouldn't be 'improved' because they can be and because it's slightly more profitable.
A pertinent point by Glis raises other products that are 'improved' by use of energy. It's not an improvement in anything except the profit margin and I have singular difficulties with a world where profit is the single most important thing. That almost never ends well.
Benedict Arnold 