By: Planning to Disaster: The Zoning Apparat vs. Paula Deen’s Chickens

Planning to Disaster: The Zoning Apparat vs. Paula Deen’s Chickens — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 16:34:44 +0000

[...] I’m obsessed with is urban homesteading (the other is bunker fuel — see here, here, and here). Urban homesteading is a back-to-the-land, “buy local” movement. Essentially, [...]

By: JMW

JMW — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 13:03:11 +0000

Somewhere in California Senator Boxter is probably being briefed by the Hollywood trendy guilt tripping celebrities with their own environmental agenda (e.g. Ted Danson’s Oceana) and Friends of the Earth (Friends?) for a continuing bout of the sillies.
The last time she adopted their policies it was all about two policies. One, ban HFO and two: impose a tax on Bunker fuel (there is no requirement for these people to have sensible coherent policy) so there was the prospect of a horse race in which whichever horse won, that’s the policy they would adopt but always with the chance of two horses tied at the line so they could both ban HFO and tax it.
However, while there is a law of unintended consequences, which most usually applies to any action by politicians, there is nothing about them being unexpected consequences (and in most cases a three year old can see what those consequences are likely to be the firt time the policy is mooted). Hence when going down this route Senator Boxer met her Waterloo in the shape of the Senator for Louisiana (intent on protecting the billions of dollars that port activities bring to the state).
The thing is, if we left it to IMO and resolved these issues through treaties, which is shown to be the best way, or the least bad way, to deal with trans-boundary pollution, then we might have fewer problems and fewer dumb policies.
The very worst way to deal with global issues is through unilateral legislation.
In the case of these tax/ban policies, if adopted in the USA, the Louisiana Senator pointed out that they might make things a little better locally but the net effect would be to make pollution worse. The reason being that if bunkers become too expensive in the USA and if regulations imposed on shipping and enforced with the usual gung ho attitudes complete with punitive fines (necessary globally but bad news locally imposed) a policy of rewarding whistle-blowers and criminalising seafarers, usually the crew who have little choice but not the company directors, then expect that ships will bunker and discharge cargoe where it is cheapest to do so. e.g. Mexican or Canadian ports and then transfer cargoes into and out of the US by road or rail. Well, actually, the cargoes out bit is ambitious. Already manufacturing is exploiting Mexico and so it goods produced there by US companies already by-pass US ports.
This, of course, adds to the pollution burden because road and rail are far less efficient and thus less polluting that sea freight. Of course, the big penalty would be that such shipments would also bypass the great river systems which are also very much less polluting.
Now this means California must be aware of the dangers of unilateral legislation so it should come as no surprise when they legislate as a state that the consequences will not be what they intend. And it it probably isn’t a surprise which makes you wonder why they go ahead and do it anyway.
And it isn’t as if the other environmental groups aren’t concerned about propeller noises etc as these vessels also impinge on or approach conservation areas.
In the end, apart from making the usual allowances for the dumber things California legislation does, you wonder if they are wilfully blind to the motivations and lack of concern for the truth within the organisations that manipulate them.

By: CEI Podcast for June 23, 2011: Bunker Fuel

CEI Podcast for June 23, 2011: Bunker Fuel — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 19:39:07 +0000

[...] than other kinds of fuel. Land Use and Transportation Policy Analyst Marc Scribner takes a look at new environmental regulations in California intended to reduce bunker fuel usage. The rules are actually causing many ships to [...]

By: CEI Podcast for June 23, 2011: Bunker Fuel | Inertia Wins!

CEI Podcast for June 23, 2011: Bunker Fuel | Inertia Wins! — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 19:33:00 +0000

By: June 23, 2011: Bunker Fuel | Liberty Week

June 23, 2011: Bunker Fuel | Liberty Week — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 19:18:37 +0000

By: Sean

Sean — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 16:27:30 +0000