The Cannabis Industry Has a Big Carbon Footprint

Cannabis' negative? It's energy intensive. And, it directly affect greenhouse gas production.

Given what we now unquestionably know, that global warming and its destructive forces are real and at work even as I type, the growing cannabis industry and the politicans supporting it had damn well better get a handle on reducing the carbon footprint of cannabis. EARLY!

On to the article...

 POLITICO - Marijuana has never been more popular in the U.S. — and its carbon emissions have never posed a bigger threat to the climate.

America’s patchwork approach to legalizing weed has helped make cannabis cultivation one of the most energy-intensive crops in the nation. And as states increasingly embrace marijuana, a growing source of greenhouse gases is going essentially unnoticed by climate hawks on Capitol Hill.

Nationally, 80 percent of cannabis is cultivated indoors with sophisticated lighting and environmental controls designed to maximize the plant’s yield. It’s a setup that can consume up to 2,000 watts of electricity per square meter, 40 times what it takes for leafy greens like lettuce, when grown indoors.

"For being such a 'green' industry, there’s some skeletons in the closet," said Kaitlin Urso, an environmental consultant with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

Despite piecemeal attempts by states and some growers to reduce their power consumption, at least one expert estimates the industry’s footprint already accounts for more than 1 percent of U.S. electricity consumption and continues to rise. Complicating matters further, federal laws also bar the flow of weed over state lines. That requires companies to grow cannabis in each state where they want to do business and deprives them of the scale that makes other industries more efficient.

President Joe Biden and Democratic leaders in Congress have made cutting the nation’s carbon footprint a top priority. Biden wants to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, and his plan pinpoints agricultural and industrial emissions as major targets for reduction. Yet, while cannabis cultivators in the 37 states with some form of legal weed will have to meet any federal standards created, they will not qualify for any federal incentives to help industries go green.

One recent model estimated that Massachusetts’ nascent cannabis industry represented 10 percent of the state’s industrial electricity consumption in 2020. Another study found that growing enough bud for a joint — a gram — consumes as much electricity as driving about 20 miles in a fuel-efficient car. Then there’s the still-vibrant illegal market — where there are no emissions rules whatsoever — that consumes fossil fuels at an even higher rate, often using standalone generators or stealing power from neighbors to fuel their operations.

The problem is only going to get worse.

Over the past year, nine states, including New York, approved the production and sale of either medical or recreational marijuana. That means 100 million Americans — nearly a third of the country — now live in a state where weed is legal for anyone over the age of 21. But most cultivators in those states will be growing cannabis indoors because of climate, regulations or individual business preferences, laying the groundwork for skyrocketing electricity consumption created by the new markets.

"New York, with 20 million people, growing every ounce of [cannabis] … indoors, under lights, in temperature control, is neither economically sustainable nor competitive. Nor is it environmentally sane,” said Adam Smith, director of the Craft Cannabis Alliance, a group that has lobbied for interstate commerce of cannabis.

Despite the huge climate impact of the nation’s fastest-growing new industry — legal sales jumped 50 percent last year, topping $20 billion, while the industry added almost 80,000 jobs — Biden, most lawmakers and many environmental groups, even those supportive of cannabis legalization, have largely ignored the issue.

“Honestly, I haven't thought a whole lot about it,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who made both marijuana legalization and climate change pillars of his 2020 presidential campaign, said in an interview earlier this year. “I'm not familiar with that issue.”

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