(With expanded coverage of all the Western States)
by Patrick Ruckert
https://www.californiadroughtupdate.org/20240829-California-Water-and-Infrastructure-Report.pdf
A Note to Readers
The Feature this week is another article by my friend and associate Brian Lantz. The article is from his Substack page, and a link to that page is included. His title is “Rural America–Great Hope For America.” And his thesis is that a new Trump/Vance administration, beginning in January next year, offers the opportunity for the rural areas of the nation to be an important part of making the U.S. An industrial superpower once again.
Here are a couple of paragraphs from his article:
“The need to rebuild the U.S. as a manufacturing powerhouse is on the table, and a doubling or tripling manufacturing and heavy industry is no longer thought of as a wild idea. A trillion dollar physical goods annual trade deficit is one reason why, along with the national debt. In rural America today, there is the “grit” and the skills to play a critical role in securing the future of our nation, as we must do much more than simply reverse course.
“In the 1980’s and 1990’s, for much of rural American, including many parts of what are now termed blue states, “the tide went out.” Many parts of the nation that were home to agro-industrial employment found themselves “de-industrialized,” as was said about the entire Midwest (“Rust-Bucket”), and which applied to those in blue collar/trade union jobs generally.
“Here the discussion turns to Rural America. America needs now to recognize the cultural and economic contributions of our fellow citizens in rural America, and the communities & towns that they compose. Their role, in our larger cultural and social discourse, now so impoverished — and in American economic life itself — is required.
“For the incoming Trump administration and American patriots, a pressing question to be answered is apparent: What economic drivers will propel the movement of industries, commerce, and prosperity back into our rural communities and reinvigorate their growth?
“This is not a give-away. The return to the American System and real prosperity for our nation puts a premium of the cultural development of a creative and productive citizenry. We have, and will have, a national shortage of resourceful, creative human minds, of productive labor. Rural America only awaits an infusion of productive, high wage jobs and the opportunity to advance. Young generations and new families, everywhere, need these good-paying, “breadwinner” jobs and secure communities.
In the rest of this week’s report
The report begins with maps from the U.S. Drought Monitor. Two maps are included: California, what the Monitor names the Oregon Range (Oregon, Washington and Idaho and a part of Montana), in addition to a photo of the shrublands of Oregon.
The report on the Presidential campaign this week has only one item: A guest column in the Wall Street Journal from Vice-Presidential candidate JD Vance : “JD Vance: Harris Wages War on U.S. Energy.”
A report from Michael Carr, “Physical Economy and Technology Report for August 29, 2024,” is a regular part of these weekly reports. In this report, Mike covers, among other developments, “the fight for baseload electrical power, the Polaris Dawn flight, and the Starliner test flight. We take a tour with Jeff Bezos of his New Glenn rocket factory, and we present an interview with the people who brought RFK and President Trump together.”
There are two articles on Colorado River developments. Both are summarized in the first, but there are more details in the second one. In summary, farmers are being paid millions of dollars to not plant crops in the Imperial Valley of California.
The report concludes with the Feature, discussed above.
For August 29, 2024
