Rain Dances

Rick Perry's now official pray-for-rain policy really marks him as an effective governor.

Drought, Climate Change, and Societal Problems

The problems Kenya faces right now are probably indicative of common situations the world will have to face as the century winds on.

Kenya is in the middle of a terrible drought. This happens from time to time, though certainly climate change can make droughts worse. There are lots of people and cattle in Kenya as well, putting too much pressure on the limited resources of the country. When drought hits, people start killing each other over control to resources. In the last week, more than 30 Kenyans have died in tribal raids to steal cattle in order to replenish depleted herds.

We can't blame any one drought or hurricane or natural disaster on climate change, even though they are likely to become more common. But we can directly link climate change to melting glaciers, a situation which is making Kenya's water supplies even more threatened. Right now, with the drought combined with dwlindling glacial melt, there isn't enough water to run the nation's power plants. People are getting increasingly desperate and turning to violence as a result.

It's going to be a real worldwide challenge to deal with these conflicts in coming decades, both within and between nations.

Farming the Oklahoma Panhandle?

Sometimes I wonder if the 1862 Homestead Act is one of the most unforutnate pieces of legislation the U.S. has passed. Primarily, this is because it gave incentive for people to farm land that should never have been farmed. One of those areas is the Oklahoma panhandle. The center of the Dust Bowl, the area has been losing population for almost 100 years, yet still retains many large farms. The area was devastated by another drought in the 1950s. Today, it is seeing perhaps its worst drought on record. The area has had 0.5 inches of rain in the last year. Nothing for all intents and purposes.

Yet the government continues to play a neutral or even negative role in people living and working in this area. It is for areas like this that the Buffalo Commons could come into play. This idea was developed over the last 20 years by Frank and Deborah Popper and suggests that we should depopulate the western plains and allow bison and other animals to roam there again as they did 150 years ago. While it is sad to see these places die, their demise is slow and agonizing and it would be a good idea perhaps for the federal government to engage in a mercy killing. It would be a big investment but it would also return this land to a more ecologically sustainable regime that could handle these kinds of droughts and would also give the remaining residents a big economic boom because of the tourist dollars that would result. It is a complicated idea but one that could be worked out with an intelligent and flexible American government. For instance, one could still put wind farms out there, supplying more of the country with sustainable energy while also allowing bison, pronghorn, and prairie dogs to grow in numbers.