U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar at the 2019 California Democratic Party State Convention in San Francisco, CA | Photo by Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons
Part XLII of the “United States 2024 Elections” Series
Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar was the only speaker at the Democratic National Convention who mentioned some water sources from tributary lakes and rivers that feed into the Mississippi River. She said in her speech last Wednesday, August 21st, when she introduced her home state’s governor, Tim Walz, the vice-presidential nominee, that “(A)merica, there is so much that we share, so much that connects our way up north in Minnesota, out of Lake Itasca flows the Mississippi River. It starts small, and it grows wider. It flows down to Wisconsin and to Iowa. It goes down to Illinois and to Missouri. It goes to Kentucky and Tennessee. It goes to Arkansas, and it goes way down to Mississippi, and then it goes all the way down to New Orleans, Louisiana, where the spirit of our nation’s resilience abounds. So let us commit here and now to cross the river of our divides to get to a higher ground, and let us join together to elect Kamala Harris and Tim Walz . . . “
Senator Klobuchar should have added to her so-meaning metaphor of a “river that divides” Americans that waters from 32 states flow to the Old Man River, making it the longest, and probably the biggest, river of the United States. If this columnist’s proposal, the “Old Man River and TNsea” moonshot-like project, is pushed through successfully.
Hopefully, in 2025, President Kamala Harris and Vice President Tim Walz can begin cleaning Old Man River (OMR) waters in some states like Tennessee, pumping the cleaned waters to America’s drying aquifers and aqueducts via pipes. At the same time, reforestation in the watershed areas of the numerous tributary rivers while reinventing to make the rural towns that line up the rivers’ shores more resilient to the effects of Global Warming and produce more green energy and organic food supplies. Further, they rebuild homes and small businesses on Main Street and construct new homes for the homeless who may like to return to their home states that are part of “Rustic America” (if not “Rural America”). New pipes can replace old and rusted (pun intended) in new or rebuilt dwellings, businesses, farms, and barns.
On Nov. 15, 2023, this column discussed in Part VI of this series that was headlined, “Mr. Biden Can Be Bolder With ‘The Old Man and TNsea’ Moonshot . . .”. Here is the link to it.
“Hopefully, in 2025, President Kamala Harris and Vice President Tim Walz can begin cleaning Old Man River (OMR) waters in some states like Tennessee, pumping the cleaned waters to America’s drying aquifers and aqueducts via pipes.”
Nearly two years before, this column discussed how “The ‘TNsea.net’ Proposal Can Lead to Saving America’s Aquifers” on Nov. 15, 2021. Readers can read it by searching for “TNsea” in the search box of this website. They can also click this link to read reports about America’s drying aquifers. The article’s fourth paragraph says, “The Ogallala Aquifer, also known as the High Plains Aquifer, underlies eight states stretching across America’s High Plains from South Dakota down to Northern Texas. It has been running out of water.”
The Biden-Harris Administration can even begin the implementation of the “OMR-TNsea Moonshot Project” in the last quarter of 2024 by assigning squads from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to start working with the county and city engineering departments in the 32 states where the OMR gets its waters from tributary rivers. Many states have some engineering studies and even environment-impact reports about the so-called “Mississippi River Deltas.” These feasibility studies can be updated and merged into a general plan for a 15-year program that can divided into phases, like splitting them further into short-, medium- and long-term goals.
This columnist also suggested that a Task Force called “SWATT” be organized and assigned to key areas in the Mississippi River Deltas. The “SWATT” is the acronym that means “Social Workers, Agriculturists, Teachers, and Technicians” that would start to do preparatory work for the “OMR-TNsea Moonshot Project.” Perhaps a retiring President Biden can add more luster to his legacy by implementing this idea in his remaining months in office. The “SWATT” can help promote the “Biden’s Cancer Moonshot.” The task force may also research ways to save beleaguered rural hospitals and clinics in immediate danger of closing down due to a lack of financial and human resources.
.jpg){kind=link}