Although some pointy-headed tree-huggers want to pin part of the blame for the impending disaster on the unregulated growth of the fastest growing city in the United States, Republican Governor Sonny Perdue identifies the real villain as over-regulation.

Perdue blasted what he called the "silly rules" governing the water supplies, noting that even if the state got replenishing rains, it could not by law conserve those, but must release 3.2 billion gallons a day downstream. "The actions of the Corps of Engineers and Fish and Wildlife Service are not only irresponsible, I believe they're downright dangerous and Georgia cannot stand for this negligence," Perdue said.

Unfortunately, a big swath of Alabama depends on the outflow from Lake Allatoona, and the selfish Alabamians are successfully resisting Governor Perdue's brilliant plan to save Atlanta by killing Mobile.

Considering the fantastic cloud of ambiguity that the petroleum industry and its friends throw over every environmental issue, it's probably a good idea to be explicit about the sort of thing that you would normally expect any idiot to understand. So...

When Atlanta runs out of water, Atlanta will die.

What to do? Georgia's favorite son Newt Gingrich recommends desalinization of ocean water as part of his Contract with the Earth, which would also cure global warming with... wait for it... tax breaks for auto makers.

How long would it take to build desalinization plants massive enough to supply Atlanta, and the rest of the infrastructure for delivery? What would become of the millions of gallons of poisonous brine that big desalinization plants produce every day? Who would pay to build the plants? Who could afford the much more expensive water, if it ever got to Atlanta? What would Atlanta drink in the meantime?

"I'll think about that tomorrow," as Scarlet O'Hara used to say, and that famous phrase still fits the pitiful, anti-regulatory, tax-break "environmentalism" of the New South, even as it merges irresistibly with the Old South among civilizations Gone with the Wind.