Thirsty Californians Tithe To High-Speed Rail [One of the worst investments ever]

The Federalist ^ | 07/10/2015 | Georgi Boorman

[SeekAndFind]

California is a beautiful state, but its incompetent government has turned it into a national joke—a “meanwhile, in California” meme seems appropriate for whatever’s going on elsewhere, because odds are California is doing something even dumber, like declaring an Uber driver is an employee instead of a private contractor, making laws about your bathroom’s temperature, or banning “ex-gay” reparative therapy.

Today, during one of California’s most severe droughts in recent history, we can illustrate like so:

The Los Angeles Times ran an editorial in April opposing building more desalination plants like the brand new one opening in Carlsbad, which would provide water to the San Diego County Water Authority. The main complaints? It costs too much and does too little, while potentially hazarding the environment. The Carlsbad plant would provide only 7 percent of the county’s water supply while demanding a lot of energy. Poseidon, the company who built the plant, hopes to build more.

Still, it is a $1 billion project that took 15 years to build, compared the projected $68 billion the state is spending on high-speed rail, which will not be fully complete until after 2040. As we know, modern trains built and subsidized by the government never a) finish on time b) finish on budget and c) cover their own operating and capital expenses. That makes the water plants a far more rational investment.

The LA Times makes squinty eyes at desalination, but it painted a lavish picture of the rail’s ground-breaking ceremony in January, gushing over Gov. Jerry Brown’s inspiring words.

[BenLurkin]

bttt

[Tenacious 1]

Let me get this straight. 15 of these plants would provide for all the water in San Deigo? Not that it is needed.

But could the entire drought in CA be eleviated with 68 salination plants ($68 Billion)? Could re re-irrigate the old lush desert valley with ocean water then?

[Richard Axtell]

The word “idiocy” comes to mind when I read stories like this. Can our leaders be this stupid? I am afraid of the answer.

[USMCPOP]

Isn’t there a song on this topic?

“I started a train,

that had the whole world laughing...’

Er something like that. The BMUS train. Beam Me Up Scotty.

[A Formerly Proud Canadian]

Let me guess: The high speed train starts in a conservative area and stops in other conservative areas and ends in the middle of the desert whe the last stop will be a liquidation re-education centre 😋 to be called 'Hotel California'. ("You can checkout any time you like, but you can never leave!")

[SeekAndFind]

RE: I started a train,

The actual title is...

[CalTexan]

The largest body of water in the world is just a few miles from me and I can’t wash my own car or driveway anymore...

[stillfree?]

“The word “idiocy” comes to mind when I read stories like this. Can our leaders be this stupid? I am afraid of the answer”

You know the answer. Maybe not stupid, but definitely following the money.

[Mike Darancette]

You just need desal for the coastal population centers. If you stop stealing inland CA water the deserts and interior can take care of itself.

[Tenacious 1]

Quite frankly, I am surprised how difficult it is to evaporate and condense sea water. Why can’t we heat salt water and run it across a heated medium that would evaporate into cooling media and be re-condensed? A by-product is sea salt.

What costs $1 Billion dollars?

[Tenacious 1]

The largest body of water in the world is just a few miles from me and I can’t wash my own car or driveway anymore...

If you question whether or not God has a sense of humor, you'll appreciate the irony. The largest body of water in our known universe can't be ingested by humans, lawns, plants or animals and it can't be used to wash your car because it will cause rust. You can swim in it, float on it and get food from it. Otherwise, it's useless as it pertains to water. lol

[Mike Darancette]

The power costs money. Desal is ideal for renewable power sources.