Posted on 02/09/2015 11:09:59 AM PST by mbarker12474
Does Sea Salt Threaten the Environment? February 06, 2015
BEGIN TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Scott in Hampton, Georgia. I'm glad you called, sir. Welcome to the EIB Network. Hello.
CALLER: Hello. It's good to talk to you, Rush. Um, I wanted to make you aware, if you're not already, about an impending environmental disaster. It involves the oceans, and it's being caused by the tendency of the higher-end restaurants to use real sea salt on their tables as seasoning. It's taking too much salt out of the oceans and the result of course is gonna be a decreased salinity of the oceans. That's going to affect the sea life, and I've not heard much about this.
RUSH: You know I'm glad you called about this actually because I was just asking my chef the other day -- who uses sea salt, by the way. Yu should know. My chef uses sea salt, and I asked, "What's the big deal with this? I mean, how's this any different than the other salt? I mean, why are we taking this stuff out of the sea? I mean, I didn't think we could eat that kind of salt. What's the big deal?" She said, "You know, all it is, it's just marketing, it's just to make the rich think they're getting something special. And it's not ground as fine as Morton's table salt is. It's just a game." She said, "You know, I just do it because it actually takes less of it since it's bigger chunks of it and so forth." But I had not heard of any threat to the environment over this.
CALLER: Well, there was a study done by a Professor Pablo Salazar, an expert out at Berkeley, and he's been testing the salinity of the Pacific now for the last 15 years, and he's detected a decrease in the amount of salt in the water. He's bringing it to the attention, I think, of the EPA, although I haven't heard that they've taken any action on it yet. But there's also another component of this. There's a racial component, because as you probably know, the salt in the sea contributes to the buoyancy of it, and as we all know black people tend to be less buoyant that white folks, and it's gonna result in their --
RUSH: Now wait.
CALLER: -- being able to enjoy the ocean less.
RUSH: Are you just throwing that in, or is that something that Professor Salazar said?
CALLER: Oh, no. No, no. That's just my own opinion, as a student of -- not a very serious student of -- physics, but I did know back in high school I learned that salt contributes to buoyancy. It makes you float more.
RUSH: Well, it does not. Have you ever swam in the Dead Sea?
CALLER: No, sir. I've never had an opportunity to do that.
RUSH: Well, if they ever run out of salt in the Pacific Ocean, Professor Salazar, don't worry about it. The Dead Sea is evaporating a little rapidly 'cause it doesn't get replenished as much with rain, but you cannot stay underwater in the Dead Sea. There is so much assault in the Dead Sea, it is so buoyant, you are absolutely right. But do you know I think when I was in Israel, somebody told me... I want to remember this right. Somebody told me that if you swallowed a cup of water from the Dead Sea you could die because the salt content is so contested. It's why it's the Dead Sea.
CALLER: Oh, goodness. I didn't know that.
RUSH: Yeah. If you ever go over there, since you are interested in sea salt and the environmental damage caused by the wanton mining of the stuff from the Pacific, you might be interested in checking that out.
CALLER: I will. I appreciate that. I hadn't thought of that. But for the people that can't afford a trip to the Dead Sea to swim, it's just gonna affect their ability to enjoy the ocean.
RUSH: Well, I know. If Professor Salazar and you happen to be right that buoyancy is threatened because of the mining of sea salt, it could be not just African-American, could be any number of people could drown, not having the right buoyancy, if they don't swim in the right salt body water.
CALLER: But not only that, it's gonna affect the... As we all know, the very lowest part of the food chain is the algae that grows in the oceans, and if this decrease in the salinity begins to hurt the algae, it's going to affect our entire food chain. And then those wealthy people that are enjoying the sea salt may not be able to have lobsters to put it on.
RUSH: It's an interesting thought. Interesting.
CALLER: Anyway, I just wanted to make you aware of that.
RUSH: It would also affect caviar. If you take the salt taste out of caviar, the rich would really be not happy about that. This is an interesting point. Pablo Salazar you say at the University of Berkeley. Okay. Sea salt. Look, folks, I don't know. Whoever heard of this stuff before? Sea salt? It is a marketing trick. It has to be. Now we found out that there may actually be some environmental depletion occurring as a result of this. See, it usually ends up being this way.
You do something to benefit the rich or to sell them something and the earth suffers.
That's how it works.
Scott, I appreciate the call. Thank you much.
END TRANSCRIPT
It’s just not fair that the there is so much Kosher salt because of the Dead Sea.
El Rushbo has often reminded callers that radio humor is best left to professionals.
But the topic is like the old Cold War joke: what would happen if the Soviet Union occupied the Sahara Desert?
Nothing at first....then there would be a shortage of sand.
I’m not too far from a nuclear plant. They distribute iodine on a regular basis.
. . .and some of it even comes from mountains, such as the ever popular pink Hymalayan Sea Salt. I get it ‘cause it’s pretty.
True enough. And the moon would be many meters deep in dust were it billions of years old.
Yes, it was a gag. I listened to it. Rush was having callers call in with outrageous stories ala Lyin’ Brian...
No, the pure white sale has had natural minerals removed from it, and the iodine is re-supplied. The sea salts are very mineral rich and I’m pretty sure they have plenty of iodine naturally. But it never hurts to do more research on it. That was a question that I had when I started using sea salt, and at the time it was answered to my satisfaction.
I used to live within the 10 mile radius of a nuke plant. I would only get the yearly calendar with the latest evac routes, just in case.
I seem to remember Seattle not salting the roads after a snowstorm because it would drain into Puget Sound.
“have you ever swam...”
No, I’ve never did that.
I use Dave’s kosher salt in baking ... it’s flaked.
You would.
:P
I don’t believe in them so I don’t *care*.
;D
There’s only ONE reason there is less salt percentage in the ocean, it’s becuase global warming is metling the ice caps and they are diluting the ocean.
“Says there are many trace minerals in it, including radium, uranium, polonium and thallium. I wouldn’t worry, as those are extremely tiny traces if present at all, and naturally occur in many foods we eat (like bananas) in larger amounts.”
The radioactive “danger” from bananas is because of the radioisotopes of potassium. Potassium is also found in sea salt and gives it a slightly bitter taste when compared to refined table salt.
OK... is that you, Rep. Hank "Guam is gonna tip over" Johnson?
During the Cold War, salt was a major issue.
“The first agreements, known as SALT I and SALT II, were signed by the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1972 and 1979, respectively”
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.