Topic: Water Shortage

A donor from the San Joaquin Valley highlighted the dire state of California agriculture due to severe water mismanagement and environmental over-regulation. The report warned that the state plans to take one million acres of farmland out of production, which could lead to widespread food shortages and a shift toward "fake meat" and lab-grown alternatives. Family farms are being forced out of business, leaving the industry to be dominated by the corporate investment class.

The COP21 climate summit begins at Le Bourget near Paris. Bill Nye "The Science Guy" appears on HuffPost Live to argue that climate change caused the Syrian civil war and subsequent terrorism due to water shortages and farm abandonment. The hosts mock this "reasonable" argument, pointing out that the Paris attackers were French nationals, not displaced Syrian farmers.

The ongoing water crisis in Southern California is contrasted with the self-sustaining rainwater collection systems used in Bermuda. Critics argue that desert cities like Los Angeles waste massive amounts of storm runoff while "stealing" high-quality drinking water from Northern California sources like the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir.