Yeah, America has a pot industry; but you middle-aged, whitebread tokers already know that. (What? White folks smoke more than minorities? Yep.) But, instead of subsidizing and babying the marijuana industry like we do so many others I'm looking at you coal, oil, natural gas, Wall Street, big banks, farms, etc we expect them to hide their production, which forces them to pay more for utilities they wouldn't need otherwise.
What gives, Washington?
While I'm on this subject: Washington, if you want young people to vote, stop dicking around and put legalization on every ballot in the country. Do it, and they will come. But, you know that already, too, don't you?
Listen, legalize pot so we can start growing our own, cooking with it instead of smoking it and sharing it with others without fear of going to prison. People will be happier and feel better, you government types can collect some additional taxes (don't act like you don't need the money), we'll stop spending so much money on prisons, maybe the drug-war craziness in Mexico will simmer down ... it's a win, win, win, win, with a lot of bonuses. So, what are you waiting for, politicians?
And, what are you waiting for smokers? You need to come out of the closet, too. Stand up for what you want and need. Politicians are supposedly our servants, and your votes are more valuable to them than their ideology ... so let them know that you want pot to be legalized.
From Treehugger.com's Jaymi Heimbuch:
Marijuana is a big industry in the US, especially as medical use of marijuana becomes more popular. And while we expect grow houses with tons of energy-sucking lights to have high bills, it might be a surprise to see the grand total the industry spends on electricity every year. It adds up to 20 terawatt-hours per year -- which is about 1% of national electricity consumption, or the output of seven large power plants.What is even more fascinating to learn from the report is how much CO2 a single joint represents. "[A] single Cannabis cigarette represents 2 pounds of CO2 emissions, an amount equal to running a 100-watt light bulb for 17 hours with average U.S. electricity (or 30 hours on California's cleaner grid)."
Evan Mills, Ph.D., a long-time energy analyst and Staff Scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory:
"If improved practices applicable to commercial agricultural greenhouses are any indication, the energy use for indoor Cannabis production can be reduced dramatically. Cost-effective efficiency improvements of 75% are conceivable, which would yield energy savings of about $25,000/year for a generic 10-module growing room. Shifting cultivation outdoors eliminates most energy uses (aside from transport), although the practice can impose other environmental impacts."
Read the entire post here.