http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/25/business/food.php
Putting pollution on grocery bills
By Elisabeth Rosenthal
Published: April 25, 2008
ROME: Cod caught off Norway is shipped to China to be turned into filets, then shipped back to Norway for sale. Argentine lemons fill supermarket shelves on the Spanish Citrus Coast as local lemons rot on the ground. Half of the peas in Europe are grown and packaged in Kenya.
In the United States, FreshDirect.com proclaims kiwi season has expanded to "All year!" now that Italy has become the world's leading supplier of the national fruit of New Zealand, taking over in the Southern Hemisphere's winter.
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But the movable feast comes at a cost: pollution, especially carbon dioxide, from transporting the food.
Under longstanding trade agreements, fuel for international freight carried by sea and air is not taxed. Now, many economists, environmentalists and politicians say it is time to make shippers and shoppers pay for the pollution, through taxes or other measures.
"We're shifting goods around the world in a way that looks really bizarre," said Paul Watkiss, an Oxford University economist who wrote a recent European Union report on food imports. He noted that Britain, for example, imports - and exports - 15,000 tons of waffles, and similarly exchanges 20 tons of bottled water with Australia.
More important, Watkiss said, "we are not paying the environmental cost of all that travel."
Europe is poised to change that. The European Commission announced this year that all freight-carrying flights into and out of Europe would be included in the European emissions trading program by 2012, meaning that permits will have to be purchased for the pollution they generate.
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Originally posted by zeeblebotI think most half way smart people realize that once fuel costs rise to the point where it isn't economically viable to ship goods (not just food) to other countries, then products will finally start to be grown/manufactured close to their purchase location.
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But the movable feast comes at a cost: pollution, especially carbon dioxide, from transporting the food.
Under longstanding trade agreements, fuel for international freight carried by sea and air is not taxed. Now, many economists, environmentalists and politicians say it is time to make shippers and shoppers pay for the pollution, through taxes ...[text shortened]... 2, meaning that permits will have to be purchased for the pollution they generate.
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In other words, if you want to stop countries like the US outsourcing their manufacturing jobs to china then raise the price of fuel so that transportation costs to ship the product back to the US for sale will be so high that it isn't profitable to do it anymore. The companies will then be forced to manufacture their products closer to home.
So all the idiots in states like pennsylvania complaining nafta is killing them, yet are also calling for gas taxes to be reduced should give their head a shake and think big picture.
Originally posted by uzlessCan they grow bananas in England in winter? This is just another scam to seperate people from their money to finance the U.N.'s redistribution schemes.
I think most half way smart people realize that once fuel costs rise to the point where it isn't economically viable to ship goods (not just food) to other countries, then products will finally start to be grown/manufactured close to their purchase location.
In other words, if you want to stop countries like the US outsourcing their manufacturing jobs to c ...[text shortened]... also calling for gas taxes to be reduced should give their head a shake and think big picture.
Originally posted by der schwarze RitterDo you think it's wise to catch salmon in Norway, cart it off to China for processing and then shipping it back?
Can they grow bananas in England in winter? This is just another scam to seperate people from their money to finance the U.N.'s redistribution schemes.
Originally posted by der schwarze RitterKeep your focus DSR.
Can they grow bananas in England in winter? This is just another scam to seperate people from their money to finance the U.N.'s redistribution schemes.
No they can't grow bananas in england in winter. So if you live in England and want a banana in February, then maybe you should be paying more than 90 cents to have one.
Just a thought.
Originally posted by shavixmirIt is four times more energy-efficient for Londoners to buy lamb imported from the other side of the world than to buy it from a producer in their backyard. Similar figures were found for dairy products and fruit, according to researchers at Lincoln University in New Zealand:
Do you think it's wise to catch salmon in Norway, cart it off to China for processing and then shipping it back?
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0609/S00340.htm
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/06/opinion/06mcwilliams.html?_r=1&oref=slogin