A surprising group of investors is fueling a global scramble for water in the most unlikely of places.

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** THE WEEKLY REVEAL
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Saturday, July 29, 2023

Hello! In this issue:
* Foreign-owned megafarms have taken hold in the American West, and their activity has roots far closer to home.
* The house of cards of U.S. climate goals, built on renewable energy certificates.


** THIS WEEK’S PODCAST
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** The Great Arizona Water Grab
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Hay is dried and stored at the Saudi-owned Fondomonte alfalfa farm in Vicksburg, Ariz., in June 2023.
CREDIT: Caitlin O'Hara for The Washington Post via Getty Images

This week, Reveal digs deeper into a story that reporters Nate Halverson and Ike Sriskandarajah first broke eight years ago ([link removed]) : A Saudi-owned farm in the Arizona desert is using vast amounts of water to grow and export hay to Saudi Arabia in the midst of a water crisis in the American West.

Since that story broke, megafarms have taken hold here. And the trend isn’t fueled just by foreign companies. Many people have no idea that their retirement funds are backing massive land deals that result in draining precious groundwater. In his latest report, Halverson uncovers that pension fund managers in Arizona knew they were investing in a local land deal that resulted in draining down the aquifer supplying nearby communities. So even as local and state politicians have fought to stop these deals, their retirement funds have fueled them.

And it’s not just happening in Arizona. Halverson takes us to Southern California, where retirement money also was invested in a megafarm deal. This time, the farm was tapping into the Colorado River to grow hay and ship it overseas. And it was happening as the federal and state governments have been trying to conserve water in one of the most important, and endangered, river systems in the country.

Halverson’s investigation into water use in the arid West is just one slice of his reporting into a global scramble for food and water, which is featured in a forthcoming documentary, “The Grab ([link removed]) ” by director Gabriela Cowperthwaite.
Listen to the episode ([link removed])
🎧 Other places to listen: Apple Podcasts ([link removed]) , Spotify ([link removed]) , Google Podcasts ([link removed]) , Stitcher ([link removed]) or wherever you get your podcasts.


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** A Quote to Remember
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"Well, they never made a huge difference."

Alden Hathaway is a consultant and former executive for Sterling Planet, a broker that sells renewable energy certificates, or RECs. He maintains that all RECs, which represent a megawatt hour of renewable energy produced at a facility, are beneficial. But he acknowledges they don't actually create more renewable energy.

That hasn't stopped the federal government from buying these certificates for more than a decade to meet green mandates.

Listen: It’s Not Easy Going Green ([link removed]) (Reveal)
Read: As Climate Clock Ticks, US Government Has Been Using Burning Trash to Look Green ([link removed]) (Reveal)


** In Case You Missed It
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🎧 Guatemala's War on Journalists ([link removed])

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🎧The Pentagon Papers: Secrets, Lies and Leaks ([link removed])
This issue of The Weekly Reveal was written by Kate Howard and Nikki Frick and edited by Nina Martin. If you enjoyed this issue, forward it to a friend ([link removed]) . Have some thoughts? Drop us a line (mailto:[email protected]) with feedback or ideas!

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