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I'm struggling to believe that it's a "a huge portion" given that Saudi Arabia has less than 1/10th the population of the US. Still, the story you link to is an

• StanislavPetrov 4y ago
  >So far, four California water districts have proposed to reduce water use by up to 400,000 acre-feet per year. That would amount to about 9% of the state’s total water allotment from the river through 2026. Even a 10% reduction in use due to Saudi exports would be higher than the current goal. It is considered a national security risk to export encryption to foreign countries, but it isn't a national security risk to export our water? And why are we growing such water-intensive crops in a desert to begin with?
  • insane_dreamer 4y ago
    "free markets"
  • phpisthebest 4y ago
    At a gut emotional level this would be true but trade is what has kept the world wars a bay. Start down the path of protectionism and what we see in Russia/UKR will seem like a nice day at the park a Middle East-China-Russia vs US-EU-UK-AU-CAN would be the likely outcome, and not good for economic stability or national security
    • sitkack 4y ago
      Not sucking a river dry isn't protectionism. Or now protectionism means protecting a river, which it should.