{"id":1639022,"date":"2022-09-12T10:00:16","date_gmt":"2022-09-12T14:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1639022"},"modified":"2022-09-12T10:30:32","modified_gmt":"2022-09-12T14:30:32","slug":"house-gop-urges-democrats-to-examine-environmental-impacts-of-marijuana-legislation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-gop-urges-democrats-to-examine-environmental-impacts-of-marijuana-legislation\/","title":{"rendered":"House GOP urges Democrats to examine environmental impacts of marijuana legislation"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhouse-gop-urges-democrats-to-examine-environmental-impacts-of-marijuana-legislation%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1639022&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/12103030\/90-279\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<div class=\"RichTextArticleBody\">\n<div class=\"RichTextArticleBody-body\">\n<div class=\"Enhancement\">\n<div class=\"Enhancement-item\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><b>EXCLUSIVE \u2014 <\/b><span class=\"ArticlePage-articleBody-firstLetter\">A<\/span> pair of Republican lawmakers are urging Senate Democrats to conduct research into the environmental impact of their <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/heres-what-marijuana-bill-would-do\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">proposed marijuana legalization bill<\/a>, citing <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/opinion\/op-eds\/legalized-marijuana-is-a-global-warming-nightmare\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">concerns about high emissions<\/a> that would result from widespread cultivation. <\/p>\n<p>The <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/senate-democrats-marijuana-legalization-bill\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">legalization of the drug<\/a> in certain states has resulted in increased demand for marijuana products, causing states to ramp up production and expand their operations to indoor facilities. However, this has prompted concerns among some lawmakers who argue this increased energy consumption will have detrimental effects on the country\u2019s energy systems, as well as the environment. <\/p>\n<p><b><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/heres-what-marijuana-bill-would-do\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">INTO THE WEEDS: HERE\u2019S WHAT\u2019S IN THE SENATE DEMOCRATS\u2019 LONG-AWAITED MARIJUANA BILL<\/a><\/b> <\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs Congress debates whether to advance marijuana legalization, the American people must have a better understanding of the environmental costs of this rapidly growing industry,\u201d wrote Reps. Earl Carter (R-GA) and Doug Lamborn (R-CO) in a letter obtained by the <i>Washington Examiner. <\/i>\u201cIf the Administration seeks to reduce emissions and protect our environment as aggressively as it has previously committed, we must have a comprehensive view of where emissions and other pollution occurs, as they will likely only grow.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>The letter, which is backed by the political group <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/learnaboutsam.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Smart Approaches to Marijuana<\/a>, raises concerns about the effect marijuana legalization would have on the nation\u2019s energy grid, citing <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.morningstar.com\/articles\/1012080\/electricity-demands-covid-comeback\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">research that predicts<\/a> nationwide legalization would increase electricity demand by 65% over the next 10 years. <\/p>\n<p>About 80% of marijuana cultivation <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2021\/08\/10\/weed-cannabis-legalization-energy-503004\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">occurs in indoor facilities<\/a>, which would only be expected to increase if the drug were legalized. This raises energy concerns, the lawmakers argue, as it has been calculated that indoor cultivation facilities can take up far more energy than the average home. <\/p>\n<p>An indoor facility may be equipped with lighting intensities that are similar to hospital operating rooms, which far exceed the recommended reading light levels for normal homes, according to <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ncsl.org\/research\/energy\/electricity-use-in-marijuana-production.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a report from the National Conference of State Legislatures<\/a>. That, paired with the facilities\u2019 temperature or fan speed changes, increases the energy output of a four-plant lighting module to use as much electricity as 29 refrigerators, the report found. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnfortunately, these reports do not account for the extensive illegal market that still exists and does not face energy or emission regulations that legal operations do,\u201d the lawmakers wrote. <\/p>\n<p>Additionally, marijuana cultivation requires significant amounts of water, far outpacing other produce, the lawmakers argued. The amount of water needed for marijuana cultivation is roughly double what is needed to grow produce such as maize, soybeans, wheat, and wine grapes, according to <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/jcannabisresearch.biomedcentral.com\/articles\/10.1186\/s42238-021-00090-0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a 2021 study<\/a> by the <i>Journal of Cannabis Research<\/i>. <\/p>\n<p>In early August, Senate Democrats unveiled their long-awaited marijuana legalization bill, which seeks to remove the drug from the Controlled Substances Act and leave legalization up to the individual states. The bill would also expunge all prior federal criminal convictions related to marijuana, among other measures. <\/p>\n<p>However, Carter and Lamborn are urging Senate Democrats to conduct further research before pushing the bill through Congress. As part of their letter addressed to the Department of Energy, Interior Department, Energy Information Administration, and Environmental Protection Agency, the lawmakers are calling on the Biden administration to answer several key questions in a detailed report by Nov. 30. <\/p>\n<p><b><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/a><\/b> <\/p>\n<p>These questions include information on how marijuana cultivation affects state energy levels and emissions, what anticipated growth of energy usage would be expected from marijuana legalization, and what impacts marijuana cultivation would have on states\u2019 water supplies. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe demand for prioritizing electricity uses and for increased energy efficiency is a growing concern for the American public,\u201d Carter and Lamborn wrote. \u201cAs these strains come to fruition, the potential for capacity shortages and blackouts only rises \u2026 It is essential that the nation understand the burden marijuana cultivation puts on the electrical grid and the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>EXCLUSIVE \u2014 A pair of Republican lawmakers are urging Senate Democrats to conduct research into the environmental impact of their proposed marijuana legalization<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1639024,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1639022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1639022","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1639022"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1639022\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1639024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1639022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1639022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1639022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}