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In this Our Changing Climate environmental video essay, I look at why the indoor weed industry isn’t sustainable. Part of the reason why weed has such a large environmental impact and carbon footprint is that most growers farm weed indoors.
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Transcript Provided by YouTube:
00:00
[Music]
00:11
we using weed seems to be sweeping
00:14
across North America in October Canada
00:17
declared weed illegal and currently 30
00:20
states in the US have some form of
00:22
legalized marijuana the drug has been
00:25
thrust strongly into the mainstream
00:27
consciousness and the case for
00:29
legalization is often held up as a
00:32
progressive standard we are not gonna
00:34
punish people for smoking marijuana
00:36
states want to go forward and legalize
00:38
that that is that right part of this
00:40
stems from the racist history of the
00:42
criminalization of marijuana drug law
00:45
enforcement has heavily targeted poor
00:47
black communities and the so-called war
00:49
on drugs has resulted in more black
00:52
Americans under correctional control
00:54
than were enslaved in 1850 done right
00:58
legalizing weed could be a step towards
01:00
dismantling this cruel system but
01:03
legalization can have complicated and
01:05
often unforeseen consequences such as
01:09
which communities benefit from the new
01:11
marijuana Gold Rush
01:13
today though I want to look at an often
01:16
overlooked result of this new industry
01:18
its massive environmental impact
01:23
pot is often grouped with
01:24
environmentalist because of its
01:26
association with the 1960s and 70s
01:29
counter cultural movements as well as
01:32
its perceived naturalness hemp has been
01:36
grown for thousands of years and has
01:39
traditionally been cultivated outdoors
01:41
using natural light rainwater and
01:43
supplementing with irritation when
01:46
needed but ever since cannabis was
01:48
labeled a Schedule one drug in 1970
01:51
which put it on par with heroin many
01:54
growers escaped to the indoors as a way
01:56
to avoid detection the upside to this at
01:59
least for those growing the plant was
02:01
that cultivating pot indoors allowed
02:03
growers to gain a higher level of
02:05
manipulation and control of the plane
02:08
essentially they took the
02:09
unpredictability of the weather the Sun
02:12
and the soil out of the equation and
02:14
soon were able to have a consistent
02:16
product that they could market at a high
02:19
price and this indoor growing practice
02:21
is now the most widely recognised method
02:24
for growing pot legally and beautifully
02:27
unfortunately growing indoor cannabis
02:29
requires an enormous amount of energy a
02:32
study by the Southwest energy efficiency
02:35
project found that energy consumption
02:37
per square foot for indoor grow
02:39
operations is about 10 times that of a
02:42
typical office building a fact which an
02:45
IPCC member dr. Evan Mills corroborated
02:48
in a 2012 study where he cites that the
02:51
cannabis industry accounts for one
02:53
percent of the United States his total
02:55
energy use that is the equivalent energy
02:58
use of 1.7 million US homes and since
03:02
that report the wheat industry has only
03:04
ballooned in size
03:07
part of the reason it takes so much
03:09
energy to grow these plants lies in its
03:12
lighting systems the typical setup for
03:15
weed cultivation requires HIDs or
03:18
high-intensity discharge lamps because
03:21
they are cheap to buy and give off a ton
03:23
of light but according to the new site
03:26
Think Progress these kind of lamps can
03:29
raise temperatures and growing rooms by
03:31
over 30 degrees Fahrenheit and are often
03:33
on for 12 to 18 hours a day so in order
03:37
to keep ideal temperatures for the
03:39
plants growers install air conditioning
03:42
units dehumidifiers and fans all over
03:45
their grow rooms all of these energy
03:47
intensive devices work to create perfect
03:50
conditions for the plant to grow but
03:52
ultimately means very high emissions dr.
03:56
Mills equates the emissions associated
03:58
with producing a kilo of weed to that of
04:01
driving across country 11 times in a 44
04:05
mile per gallon car considering that
04:08
this industry is rapidly expanding is
04:11
there a possible solution to the massive
04:13
energy requirements of growing marijuana
04:15
legalization might provide some
04:18
assistance and that most of those who
04:20
grow illegally do so in an off-the-grid
04:23
manner to hide detection they use diesel
04:26
or gas fueled generators which emit
04:29
large amounts of carbon directly into
04:31
the air so a step towards legalization
04:33
might mean access to cleaner and more
04:37
energy-efficient sources but even more
04:40
importantly with legalization and the
04:43
right regulation comes access to the
04:45
outdoors as Secretary of the
04:47
International cannabis Farmers
04:49
Association
04:50
Amanda Ryman points out in a lecture Sun
04:52
grown cannabis requires dramatically
04:55
less energy and emissions than indoor
04:57
grown plants
05:03
to protect the environment not to carry
05:05
through do you hear us there’s really no
05:08
important the problem is that open air
05:12
operations are only allowed in six
05:15
states so current laws are keeping
05:17
growers inside for the benefits of open
05:21
air growing such as polycultures and
05:23
lower emissions are promising ultimately
05:27
there is a path forward in this growing
05:29
industry that can lead towards lower
05:31
energy use and emissions but it means
05:34
rolling up our sleeves digging in the
05:36
dirt and realizing the potential for
05:38
free energy right outside our doorstep
05:44
[Music]
05:48
thanks so much for watching if you’re
05:50
new to my channel and you liked what you
05:52
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05:53
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05:55
the little bell next to it my next video
05:58
will be a deep dive on packaging and
06:00
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06:03
enjoying my videos consider supporting
06:05
the channel financially on patreon it
06:07
helps me out a ton otherwise I will see
06:09
you in two weeks
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This post was previously published on YouTube.
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