the transphobic state of utah is heading towards an environmental disaster, the great salt lake is evaporating and unless water is diverted from farming and lawns the lake will completely evaporate and toxic dust will be blown up from the lake bed and will result in a sharp rise in cancers, miscarriages, and deaths in the surrounding area. The surrounding area however is extremely fucking reactionary and just voted to deprive minors of gender affirming care.

Its possible that if left undisturbed the mormons might fix the problem, they might implement water rationing methods that save the lake and help alleviate climate change in the southwestern us. However if they let the lake dry, a lot of mormons will die, the church loses relevancy, they will be blamed for this disaster.

Is environmental destruction worth it if it means that the left wing gets in power? That is the moral predicament here.

Now say a small group of leftists astroturfed a pro-farmers water rights campaign in Utah. Would it be ethical to critically support a right wing group with the intention of hurting an even worse right wing group?

What I'm saying is, would it be in the best interests of the left to sabotage any efforts at saving the great salt lake?

  • Sphere [he/him, they/them]
    ·
    2 years ago

    Others have addressed many of the other issues in this post. But no one has pointed out that the lake is going to dry up anyway. It's doomed, and nothing can change that. The fact is that the saltiness is a clear indicator that this lake is going to dry up (it's been drying up for a long time, hence the salt content). With climate change accelerating the drying of the West, especially on the eastern side of the mountains, the Great Salt Lake simply cannot be saved, and any belief that it can is utterly delusional.