Friday, July 15, 2011
Mother-in-law, cliff, Cadillac
A little-noticed bit of news that will have a large effect:
First mixed-feelings: Heavy fuel oil produces a lot of real pollution. Controlling its use will genuinely clean up the air. Should I be bothered that the Carbon Crime serves as the atrociously bad reason for this good result?
Second mixed-feelings: The habit of using 'trick nationalities' for shipping leads to lots of real problems with poor safety, poor working conditions, etc. If this forces shipping to operate more often from real countries, it will be good.
Third mixed-feelings, which is so important that the mixed-ness no longer matters: These rules will make shipping considerably more expensive, which will be a purely good thing. Cheap shipping (especially from those trick nations) has made outsourcing attractive since 1980. If shipping gets expensive again, producing things here in America will become the more attractive choice.
The U.N. agency regulating international shipping decided Friday that new cargo and transport vessels must meet energy efficiency standards and cut carbon pollution. ... About 50,000 cargo ships carry 90 per cent of world trade, and most ships are powered by heavily polluting oil known as bunker fuels.
First mixed-feelings: Heavy fuel oil produces a lot of real pollution. Controlling its use will genuinely clean up the air. Should I be bothered that the Carbon Crime serves as the atrociously bad reason for this good result?
Small island states that lend their flags to merchant ships also were reluctant, since one way toward greater efficiency is to build larger ships that could prove too big for their port facilities.
Second mixed-feelings: The habit of using 'trick nationalities' for shipping leads to lots of real problems with poor safety, poor working conditions, etc. If this forces shipping to operate more often from real countries, it will be good.
Third mixed-feelings, which is so important that the mixed-ness no longer matters: These rules will make shipping considerably more expensive, which will be a purely good thing. Cheap shipping (especially from those trick nations) has made outsourcing attractive since 1980. If shipping gets expensive again, producing things here in America will become the more attractive choice.
Labels: Carbon Cult
¶ 12:47 PM
