According to a USA Today item carried at ABC News, "Sixty percent of adults can't drink milk." In July 2012, the New York Times ran an item entitled, "Got Milk? You Don't Need It." But the last time I checked, everyone uses electricity to some extent.
I'm bringing up these points because, as a friend showed me earlier today, the establishment press has run stories galore in the past several weeks about increases in the price of milk, but, as I noted a couple of days ago, has paid virtually no attention to coming increases in wholesale electricity costs of up to 80% which are due solely to Environmental Protection Agency regulations requiring the use of unproven and not commercially available "carbon capture" technology.
Here are several of the stories sounding the dire alarm about milk prices — again, over a product which the majority of adults can't drink, and a larger majority of adults don't drink:
NBC News, yesterday — "Milk Could Go Up 60 Cents a Gallon"; "Dairy analysts estimate store milk prices could go up 60 cents in March, reaching their highest ever."
MarketWatch, Feb. 7 — "Western drought spells killer grocery bills"; "Much like the polar vortex spiked demand and prices for natural gas in the eastern U.S., another weather phenomenon — a severe drought — is threatening cattle and milk production and food crops in the West."
Associated Press, as carried at the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Feb. 16 — "Wis. dairy farmers get nearly record-high prices for milk as cheese demand continues to rise"; "Wisconsin's dairy farmers are getting nearly record-high prices for their milk, thanks to soaring demand, higher dairy exports and a smaller milk supply."
Bloomberg, Jan. 21 — "Milk Reaches Record as U.S. Exports Climb Amid Drought"; "Milk futures in Chicago jumped to the highest on record, signaling higher costs for consumers, as exports surge and a record drought threatens output in California, the nation’s top producer."
Reuters, carried at CBS News today — "The price of a gallon of milk headed towards record high"; "Picking up a gallon of milk at the grocery store is getting pricier and the cost could hit a record high for U.S. consumers in March, analysts warned."
Dayton, Ohio station WKEF, today — "Milk Prices Could Rise To Highest Price Ever"; "Some disturbing news for milk drinkers. Analysts say the price of milk could rise to an all time high in the coming months. Right now, the average price for a gallon is $3.50, but it's expected to go up another 60 cents."
Even as they "milk" their reporting on the dairy front, the press is missing the real story about the drought which is causing the price increases. As Joel Pollak at Breitbart noted on February 9, its negative consequences are also man-made (bolds are mine):
Astonishingly low rainfall. Low snow levels on the mountains. Rivers at two to three percent of normal levels. And yet--plenty of water for the state's farms, lawns and gardens. It's not California, where Gov. Jerry Brown has warned residents to cut back on water use, and seventeen rural communities face extreme water shortages. It's neighboring Arizona, where the state has done a superior job of developing water reservoirs for dry years.
... Arizona's reservoirs, (the Arizona Republic's Brandon) Loomis says, are built to store multiple years of runoff. California's reservoir system has not kept pace with its changing water needs, and Gov. Brown seems more interested in building high-speed rail than in building infrastructure to prepare for the drier climate he says is coming. Southern California has done a better job of water storage than Northern California, but some of that water may soon be diverted northward.
It seems like there's nothing government regulators and environmental zealots can't ruin when they put their minds to it.
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
