Is Global Warming Producing Its First Civil War? In the U.S. no less.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Georgia is a dry state. This doesn’t mean they still don’t enjoy their Mint Juleps. Georgia is still running out of water. It’s a good thing only 1 tablespoon of water is called for in the making of what’s known as ‘the world’s most civilized’ drink.
Civility may be called for, sans the bourbon, if the water war between Georgia and Tennessee gets any hotter.
Georgia lawmakers intend to take a legal look at what has been a 190 year-old border dispute with Tennessee. At issue is what Georgia claims is an 1818 survey of the state line which is in error. The 1.1 mile mistake hasn’t been in much dispute over the past couple of hundred years, but what a difference a mile can make when your state is running dry.
Moving the state boundary just over a mile to the north would give the particularly parched state of Georgia a portion of the wet Tennessee River.
The mayor of Chattanooga intends to have a truckload of water delivered to Georgia Lawmakers along with a proclamation setting aside one day as “Give Our Georgia Friends a Drink Day.”
Sen. David Shafer, R-Duluth thinks Chattanooga mayor Littlefield’s delivery of water a nice gesture but also described Littlefield’s actions as “posturing”.
Littlefield said Tuesday, “We hope they accept it in the humorous way it is intended.”
Georgia’s Drought is no laughing matter. Just as border disputes between states isn’t funny either. What begins in jest, ends in earnest.
Take a look around this weekly updated drought page to see how ‘in earnest’ Georgia’s border dispute may become.
