The sacred farmers/agri-business (both plants and animals) are major consumers of cheap/free underground/surface water, paying much less than municipalities and individuals, while being a major source of water, air pollution, and erosion, while producing cheap but mostly ty, tasteless, de-nutrified food laden with chemicals and drugs.
If the ag industry was really cleaned up (don't expect the Repugs to even think about that), the price (and quality?) of food would go up, but perhaps the model would be more balanced, sustainable, less injurious. Also, there has been a move away from meat consumption, so if the meat were priced including all its real costs, then only meat eaters would pay the high price of producing meat, ie, like toll roads, a consumer tax.
ie, if someone doesn't eat meat, why should they pay environmental costs for meat production? Will Ernesto's rains spill hog farm waste pits into the Atlantic coast rivers again?
The same with carbon-based energy production. If coal-fired plants were fitted with pollution control equipment, the costs of electricity would be higher, but that would spur greater conservation, which is really the only solution to US's dependence on foreign energy suppliers.
Don't EVER expect a Washington politician, of either party, to talk about the above changes. The voters will have to understand these issues and vote these issues massively to overcome the, disenfranchising corporate ownership of politicians.
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