Ration

by Gloria Allen

Created on: October 30, 2007

Govt. should ration energy. Rationing energy means adjusting to the ever-present reality that the world is consuming its' natural resources faster than those resources can renew themselves - this is essentially the dilemma outlined in UCLA professor Jared Diamond's recent brilliantly riveting book, Collapse. On one hand, people need natural resources to survive, yet on the other, they will no longer continue to survive if they overuse these resources. His book focuses on how a myriad of distant civilizations for the past several thousand years, up until the present have been chopping down too many trees - for houses; for fuel; for furniture and for paper. Many trees are also lost to forest fires. Rivers, lakes and streams disappear with no trees to bring shade and prevent evaporation. Cattle overgrazing, also leaves topsoil vulnerable to erosion, potentially causing landslides. Eventually, all that's left is a hot parched earth, with no ground cover. A desert where water evaporates quickly. That's where we are headed. Who is big enough to step up and put the breaks on mankind's selfishness, lack of foresight, lack of vision? Or will the inhabitants of planet earth all be forced to live in something comparable to a giant microwave oven?

The most-pressing issue that the world is faced with now - even more so than the most popular topic in liberal/left-wing discussions of wanting or needing solar energy, is water. Water is the most critical issue when we recognize that there is only 1% of clean drinking water left in the whole world, (Popular Science, August 2007 issue, "Engineering a Better Earth" page 50). It is the most important issue, more so than fuel consumption or needing more hybrid cars. And while yes, consuming less fuel and using clean solar energy, along with other renewables is definitely what the environment needs - still water is the most critical issue that our planet will need to confront immediately. This alarming fact, mandates that the heads of each national government worldwide assume firm measures to provide a safety net for their countries, or millions of people could likely die of thirst.

Federal governments worldwide should start contemplating some solutions to the water scarcity that is upon us, almost smack in our faces and yet, we are too blind to see it. They should immediately begin to:
1) Begin rationing efforts until
2) The solution is in place and even then
3) Re-think water usage and plan water conservation so as not to continue to fall back into our old habits.

Water rationing should be enforced in the following ways, by law with a penalty of a fine for violators. Immediately we must move to:
A moratorium on golf course watering unless greywater or even blackwater is used.
A limit on car washes. Cars must pass the "very dirty test" and even then, the washes are shorter and can be done on cars less frequently.
All houses and businesses must have water-catchment or rainwater collecting systems, for which each residence or business get a partial tax break.
All plants must be drought-resistant, especially for hot areas.
Lawn watering is banned, unless done with greywater or blackwater collecting systems.
All toilets must either be low-flow; pressurized flush; or composting toilets. Homes and businesses also get 50% tax break on purchasing costs and labor.
All leaking faucets must be fixed and repaired, as soon as one is aware of such a problem

All the old toilets are recycled in a variety of different ways. Cities in each of the drought-stricken areas have collecting points to receive the old toilets or they will be picked up.

If a home or business is unable to pay for any of these water-saving measures up front, the person can choose to either make monthly installments to the state or federal govt. - or, the person or business must pay for their 50% in some way working to help the environment - whether physically, such as working in a recycling capacity; working to clean up a park or forest, rivers, lakes and streams; plant trees; or work with others to clean up environmental pollution; or in any non-physical way such as writing letters; answering phones; etc.

The SOLUTION that will probably save the world is for desalination plants to be built, on the coasts of countries, particularly those facing extreme water shortages. These plants should be in construction now, with earthquake-resistant pipes delivering water to the inland areas. A country such as the United States would require several of these plants. Areas of the Southeast United States which are, as this is being written, undergoing extreme water shortages, need water delivered to them faster, than say the Northeast US, which is not undergoing, anyway yet, a crisis for lack of water.

The richest people in each country should be petitioned to help out by donating funds to get the desalination plants built. The extremely wealthy financiers could be offered any of several options for providing this emergency cash to start construction.: He/she might possibly receive a significant tax-break; or if it were privatized, own part of the desalination plant. The voters in each country, especially by region where the plant might be built, might possibly have a say as to who is delivering their water to them. One thing is certain though, if there is an immediate water crisis, something must be done about it before the situation reaches critical mass - not after.

Finally, this nation, as with all nations should care for this earth because it is all we have left. We should plant more trees wisely, use less energy by constructing dwellings with conservation in mind, look at design, study the climate for the house being built; get away from the old school rectangular, square, pitched roof design. Instead, how about a round house? Studies have proven that round shaped roofs, are more earthquake and wind-resistant. Why not straw-bale and adobe as infill? Studies show that they have a much higher R-value, which means that less energy is needed for heating in winter and cooling in summer. And why not composting toilets? They use absolutely no water, are certainly not outhouses but intelligently conceived solutions to recycle our waste indoors, without any odor whatsoever. If this country and all countries are to survive, we must change our thinking. We can no longer put profit above people, profit above the environment. Rationing is just another word for conservation so that a country, a locality, a mentality that does not waste, will eventually, not want and will profit, primarily as it survives.

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