When you get right down to the nitty gritty, there are really only a few existential threats to humanity. And, surprisingly, after watching the recent onslaught of political ads, I still believe they are still neither Joe Biden nor a legislator who might reach across the aisle to solve some real physical problem, like help with victims of downwind exposure to nuclear fallout.
The real threats to humanity are nuclear war (about 60 minutes to destroy the earth), global warming (a few more years till doomsday) and, newly, A.I. (possibly tomorrow). The nuclear option is kind of interesting in Utah where these weapons (with minuscule warheads compared to today’s fission bombs) tested here 70 years ago are still causing cancer; a fact downplayed by our own Washington delegation. With current stockpiles we at least should not worry about long-term effects.
The one common theme among our current throng of Republican political developers running for political office is state energy independence facilitated by more oil and gas production. I’m pretty sure there is little or no economic or security benefit to this for 99% of Utahns — and a definitive harm to all. Churning carbon earth to sky is making our winters unbreathable and our summers unbearable.
Instead, I have a great plan. We should make ourselves a food independent state. There are great reasons for this. First, we use a lot of energy for interstate and international transportation just to get food on our tables. Second, we have a load of solar energy to both produce power but also to use passively to produce produce. Third, this is real security, unlike shipping a trainload of tar-like oil to Houston for refining. Fourth, this is part of the heritage of the white people that first came to the state, and certainly the Native Americans before that.
To implement this plan, I suggest cities and the state promote local farming and household gardens through tax breaks and preferred water management. Cities could offer reduced water rates for those who utilize their water for food growth rather than fence to fence lawns, help with technical advice, grow orchards in parks (already in Salt Lake City and Sandy), and the state could offer tax breaks and subsidies to farmers who grow vegetables for consumption here instead of alfalfa for export to Japan and China.
Chris Pond, Sandy