Pubdate: Sun, 26 May 2013
Source: Anniston Star (AL)
Copyright: 2013 Seattle Times
Contact:  http://www.annistonstar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/923
Author: Bob Young, The Seattle Times

INDOOR POT PRODUCTION LEAVES GIANT CARBON FOOTPRINT

SEATTLE - Marijuana growing is not a green industry.

Done mostly indoors, pot production often uses hospital-intensity 
lamps, air conditioning, dehumidifiers, fans and carbon dioxide 
generators to stimulate plants and boost their potency.

The power-hungry crops rival data centers or server farms in intense 
use of electricity, according to a peerreviewed study last year in 
the journal Energy Policy. One kilo, or 2.2 pounds, of pot grown 
indoors, the study says, leaves a carbon footprint equivalent to 
driving across the country seven times. Producing one joint is 
equivalent to leaving a light bulb on for 25 hours.

There's little question sun-grown pot is a cleaner alternative, even 
in Washington state, which uses mostly hydropower, considered greener 
than most energy sources.

"It's great we have relatively low-carbon electricity, but that's not 
a license to waste it," said KC Golden, policy director for Climate 
Solutions, a Northwest nonprofit working against global warming.

It doesn't make sense to move agriculture indoors, Golden said, given 
the sun's track record of "encouraging photosynthesis for some 4 
billion years now, without an outage."

But in this blue-green state, very few folks are lobbying for pot 
grown under the sun in eastern Washington where the climate is 
suitable, in part because of security concerns about outdoor grows. 
And absent a stronger push, it appears state-regulated retail stores 
will open next year without sun-grown weed on their shelves.

Golden said he hasn't studied the issue, particularly the 
implications of outdoor pot for law enforcement. Leaders at other 
environmental groups such as the Sierra Club and Conservation 
Northwest say they have other priorities. Even in Seattle, where the 
City Council is writing new zoning rules allowing large indoor grows, 
no one seems very concerned with the carbon footprint of indoor pot.

Instead, the chief advocates for outdoor pot in the state are 
Okanogan County activist Jeremy Moberg and state Rep. Joel Kretz, a 
Republican from Wauconda. They say outdoor pot should be grown in 
greenhouses that allow in natural sunlight, not expansive open fields.

"The waste of our clean hydropower, wind and solar electricity for a 
nonfood crop used primarily for recreation is simply unacceptable," 
Kretz, a rancher, wrote the state Liquor Control Board, the agency 
charged with carrying out voter- approved Initiative 502. Sun-grown 
pot could also be an economic boon for his rural constituents, Kretz noted.

And it probably would be cheaper than indoor weed, Moberg said, 
helping the state achieve its goal of undercutting the black market.

The politics of producing pot are complicated, however, by the 
federal prohibition of marijuana looming over the state, and a state 
timeline for opening retail stores that seems to give the entrenched 
indoor industry a running start in competition with outdoor cultivators.

Gov. Jay Inslee won't comment on pot growing, according to spokesman 
David Postman, even though the governor recently declared 
Washingtonians "are the people who are destined to defeat carbon 
pollution." He doesn't want to micromanage the Liquor Control Board, 
said Postman.

Still, the board seems somewhat receptive to sun-grown weed.

Sharon Foster, the board's chair, recently said the state would 
license indoor and greenhouse growing, though not open-field 
production. Chris Marr, a board member from eastern Washington, 
agreed the state agency is leaning in that direction, though no 
decisions have been made.

Outdoor growing can be made secure with a razor-wire fences, 
surveillance cameras and other measures, according to Dan Williams, 
president of Canna Security America, a firm based in Colorado where 
outdoor cultivation is allowed. "It's absolutely doable," Williams said.

California pot activist Steve DeAngelo emphasizes that just an acre 
of weed can yield enough to sustain a family farm.

"People who care about our environment, who respect Mother Nature, 
need to make this a priority and demand that rulemakers and 
regulators allow cannabis to be grown like every other crop in the 
country," said DeAngelo, while in Seattle recently for a meeting of 
investors hearing pitches from marijuana entrepreneurs including Williams.

As with grapes, outdoor pot can exhibit traits of the environment 
it's grown in - what wine aficionados call "terroir."

"Think about it," DeAngelo said. "Do you want to eat tomatoes grown 
in a hydroponic solution under high-intensity lamps, or do you want 
tomatoes grown organically under the sun?"

Washington state's new regulated seed-to-store system aims to cripple 
the black market. Prices are key to that goal. Moberg believes 
greenhouse production could be considerably less expensive than 
indoor growing, even with Washington's relatively inexpensive electricity.

Despite all the apparent arguments in his favor, Moberg wasn't able 
to find allies in the environmental movement.

He turned to Kretz, a lawmaker with a contrarian streak. During a 
recent debate about wolves, Kretz sponsored a bill that would move 
wild wolves to the west side of the Cascades. He figured west-side 
lawmakers loved wolves so much they should have some in their own backyards.

Moberg wrote Kretz a letter saying sun-grown pot was an issue where 
the socio-economic and environmental arguments favored the east side.

Kretz jumped on it. "I want green marijuana," he said in an 
interview. "The land here is cheap, we have good soils and lots of 
sun." Not to mention unemployment of 15 percent in Ferry County, 
which he represents.

Now that recreational pot is legal, he said his attitude is "let's 
make the best of the situation, whether you agree or not" with its use.

The Washington state liquor board expects to release draft rules next month.

While board members are leaning toward allowing greenhouses, key 
details such as the number of licenses, the size of operations and 
how they might be dispersed geographically all remain to be determined.

Right now, the board's timeline calls for issuing licenses in 
December. With the four months required for growing and curing, that 
would allow stores to open next spring.

That schedule would seemingly put sun-grown weed at a competitive 
disadvantage, playing catchup. Moberg said he could have his harvest 
ready by Fourth of July. He'd like to see the licensing schedule 
pushed back several months to give outdoor growers a chance to supply 
retail stores when they open.

"My hope is they'll get settled on security issues and at least put 
some solar people in the mix," Kretz said of the board's rule-making.

Meanwhile, Seattle City Hall is rolling out its Climate Action Plan 
to make the city carbon neutral by 2050; and the City Council's 
zoning proposal would allow indoor grows up to 50,000 square feet, or 
more than an acre, in the city. Neither the climate plan nor the 
zoning regulations mention environmental impacts of producing 
marijuana in the city.

The issue has not been raised with Mayor Mike McGinn, said his 
spokesman Aaron Pickus, and McGinn thinks the matter is best left to 
state regulators.

Council member Nick Licata, sponsor of the new zoning, raised 
concerns about the security of transporting processed pot to urban 
markets. "You could have repeats of Al Capone knocking off beer 
trucks," he said.

Mike O'Brien, who oversees the council's energy committee, said 
largescale growers would likely go outside Seattle where land is 
cheaper. But he said the issue may come up for analysis as the carbon 
plan is implemented.

"This is one of those rapidly evolving areas on the radar," he said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom