Scientific Illiteracy

[James Marple <jesl@carolina.net>]

Fred Stoss:  Agree that concerned citizens need to do serious homework if they are to speak out 'meaningfully' and not provide ammunition to 'anti-environmentalists'.  But I've found that much of the false information that misguides concerned citizens originates with agents of profiteers.  

Wordsmiths such as public agency managers, their spokespersons, consultants they hire and phony 'non-partisan' organizations (Like California's ubiquitous Water Education Foundation) work together with marvelous coordination to keep the public ignorant of ways in which its water and energy needs could supplied from local natural resources. (This is not accidental or amazing, since they all march to the same orders from Generals of the profiteer army.) 

As an example: Californians are regularly informed by the mighty Metropolitan Water District, local water districts and most journalists that "An acre-foot can supply the household needs of one to two typical families for a year". (San Diego NC Times reporters get it right, though.) Yet in fact this 326,000 gallons equals the household needs of three families.  This doubling of perceived need for water bolstered the illusion of "looming shortages' (the "Chinatown II" scenario) that prodded even honest politicians into granting approval of a $16 billion MWD expansion that will merely match irrigation needs which should be filled by reuse of the much greater amount of wastewater dumped to the ocean yearly.  

This is an enormously costly subsidy indeed, if you consider that in order to provide cheap water to 250,000 acres of commercial property it used up over 2 million megawatt-hours of electricity last year, enough to complement other deliberate wastes of cheap hydropower that together createc the illusion of an energy shortage that allowed theft of over $50 billion dollars through utility bills. (Expensive oranges and avocados, eh?)

Yes, education is critical.  But this must include a course in recognizing both the blatantly false data and the blizzard of insidious deception that makes voters reject what common sense tell them about the promises of incumbent politicians who failed to put local rainfall to proper use as a means to eliminate flooding.