Marijuana is one of the least
“green,” most energy-intensive
crops there is. That is the dirty little secret that no “woke” groups or
climate terrorists wish to acknowledge. The recent surge in its acceptance,
legality, and use, is, therefore, making it a rapidly growing source of
greenhouse gases. Since pot is grown mostly indoors and requires special
lighting and environmental controls that consume up to 2,000 watts of
electricity per square meter, it is responsible for inordinately high levels of
energy consumption. Like 40 times that needed to produce leafy greens such as
lettuce. But, hey, you can’t smoke lettuce. (At any rate it is hard to keep
lit.)
How bad is pot cultivation for
mother earth? Politico cited a research report titled, “Energy Use by the
Indoor Cannabis Industry: Inconvenient Truths for Producers, Consumers, and
Policymakers,” in which we learn that the ever-growing pot-growing industry is
already responsible for over 1% of all electricity consumption in the United
States. If true, that is a mind-blowing statistic. Think about it. Of all
the myriad energy uses in existence, from air-conditioning and heating to
televisions and refrigerators, to massive sports stadiums and concert halls, to
24-hour-a-day big-box grocery stores and downtown skyscrapers, to the
military-industrial complex, etc., etc., growing pot uses one one-hundredth of
all the electricity consumption in the U.S.?!! That’s like so rad! Or sad.
Politico recently provided several
examples of the vast energy consumption currently required to grow marijuana:
*researchers estimate that ganja growing accounted for 10%
of total industrial electricity consumption in Massachusetts last year.
*a study reported that the energy required to grow enough
marijuana to make a single joint (one gram) was equivalent to the energy used
to drive a fuel-efficient car 20 miles.
*a report out of Europe found that each average indoor
pot-growing operation uses more power than 14 average homes.
Politico noted that the problem
will only get worse as more states legalize wacky weed. Already over one third
of the country—over 100 million people—live in states where pot is legal for
those 21 and older. As more states legalize pot, the groundwork will be laid
for the further skyrocketing of electricity consumption created by
the new markets.
But, like, dude-- don’t
harsh my mellow
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