América, ó América

Dagny Taggart Wept - Krugman - NYTimes.com:

Oh, boy — this George Will column (via Grist) is truly bizarre:

So why is America’s “win the future” administration so fixated on railroads, a technology that was the future two centuries ago? Because progressivism’s aim is the modification of (other people’s) behavior.

Forever seeking Archimedean levers for prying the world in directions they prefer, progressives say they embrace high-speed rail for many reasons—to improve the climate, increase competitiveness, enhance national security, reduce congestion, and rationalize land use. The length of the list of reasons, and the flimsiness of each, points to this conclusion: the real reason for progressives’ passion for trains is their goal of diminishing Americans’ individualism in order to make them more amenable to collectivism.

"- Sent using Google Toolbar"

E como não há duas sem três ...

... também estou de acordo com o Vital Moreira no que diz sobre a eventual privatização da TAP:

"Parece que há um "relatório técnico" que recomenda a privatização da TAP, o que naturalmente não compromete o Governo.Sempre considerei o transporte aéreo como uma das actividades que pode justificar uma empresa pública, dado o seu interesse estratégico, sob o ponto de vista económico e político. Porém, os últimos anos têm mostrado que a natureza pública da TAP tem sido aproveitada para a tornar refém da luta sindical para efeitos de instrumentalização politica, como se mostrou na recente greve dos pilotos em plena campanha eleitoral, mesmo à custa da ruína financeira da empresa. [...]"

Acabar de ler em Causa Nossa [Permanent Link].

Globalização: a questão da distância

"The extent to which the product content of trade and trade volumes shift is dependent on how high transportation costs go, and how well technologies can make up the slack. It could be the case, however, that at least some of the rapid globalisation of the past few decades was based upon an unsustainable dependence on cheap transportation. "

- ver em The resuscitation of distance Free exchange Economist.com e ver a nota sobre o mesmo assunto aqui.

Aditamento

Ver ainda em Will High Oil Prices Slow Down Globalization and International Trade?

Globalização: números

"As if airline decline were not bad enough for the sirens of globalization, word comes that cross-oceanic cargo shipping is escalating rapidly in price. According to TreeHugger (h/t Erik Hoffner), The cost of shipping a 40 foot container from Shanghai to the east coast of North America has gone from $3,000 in 2000 to $8,000 because of the cost of fuel, and for many products, the Asian cost advantage has virtually disappeared."

- ver em Globalization death watch, Part I Gristmill: The environmental news blog Grist

Aditamento (2008.06.05)

A este propósito ver esta nota de Paul Krugman sobre a evolução histórica dos preços dos transportes ao longo do século XX: Transport costs and deglobalization - Paul Krugman - Op-Ed Columnist - New York Times Blog

A Europa tem de fazer melhor

- ver em Europe, off the rails - Paul Krugman - Op-Ed Columnist - New York Times Blog

O fim da aviação comercial tal como a conhecemos?

O blogue Gristmill em Last flight out Gristmill: The environmental news blog Grist Saying Goodbye to Air Travel Global Public Media remete para uma nota de Richard Heinberg sobre o futuro da aviação comercial (ver em air travel transportation) - é uma tese defendida por outros (ver aqui). A verificar-se, não será agradável, para nós, açorianos. Importaria pensar nas implicações de tudo isto.

"The airline industry has no future. The same is true for airfreight. No air carrier has a viable plan to make a profit with oil at current prices—much less in years to come as the petroleum available to world markets dwindles rapidly. That’s not to say that jetliners will disappear overnight, but rather that the cheap flights we’ve seen in the past will soon be fading memories. In a few years jet service will be available only to the wealthy, or to the government and military.

Sir Richard Branson of Virgin Atlantic says he wants to use biofuels to power his fleet of 747’s and Airbuses. There are still some bugs to be worked out in terms of basic chemistry, but it might be possible in principle—if only we could make enough biodiesel or ethanol without further driving up food prices and wrecking the soil. Even then it would be very costly fuel.

Are there other options for powered flight? Hydrogen could be burned in jet engines, but doing so would require a complete redesign of our commercial aircraft fleet, and H2 would be expensive to make—unless the growing trend toward more costly electricity (as we phase out depleting, polluting coal and increasingly scarce natural gas) can somehow be reversed. Last year I was invited to give the keynote address at the world’s first Electric Aircraft Symposium. NASA and Boeing sent representatives, but all told there were only about 20 in attendance. The planes being discussed were ultralight two-seaters: that’s the limit of current or foreseeable battery technology. These might come in handy in a future where they are the only option for emergency air travel (blimps need depleting helium or explosive hydrogen).

But forget about 300-seat planes running on solar or wind power, ferrying middle-class vacationers to Bali or Venice. There are good reasons to cut down on air travel voluntarily: flying not only swells our personal carbon emissions but spews CO2 and other pollutants into the stratosphere, where they do the most damage. However, the worsening scarcity of the stuff we use for making jet fuel takes the discussion out of the realm of optional moral action and into that of economic necessity and personal adaptation. I fly to educate both general audiences and policy makers about fossil fuel depletion; in fact, I’m writing this article aboard a plane en route from Boston to San Francisco. I wince at my carbon footprint, but console myself with the hope that my message helps thousands of others to change their consumption patterns. This inner conflict is about to be resolved: the decline of affordable air travel is forcing me to rethink my work. I’m already starting to do much more by video teleconference, much less by jet.

Those who live far from family will be more than inconvenienced, as will the hundreds of thousands who work for the airline industry directly or indirectly, or the millions who depend on tourism or airfreight for an income. These folks will have few options: teleconferencing can accomplish only so much. Our species’ historically brief fling with flight has been fun, educational, and enriching on many levels to those fortunate enough to benefit from it. Saying goodbye will be difficult. But maybe as we do we can say hello to greater involvement in our local communities.

Ártico e globalização

O blogue Free exchange (Economist.com) refere, em Feeling a chill, a discussão das consequências, de todo o tipo, da abertura do Ártico à navegação internacional, caso a tendência para o desaparecimento do gelo continue (ver a referência ao mesmo assunto no artigo de Javier Solana sobre as consequências do aquecimento global: aqui).

Um número interessante: "... at the massive cost of international shipping--a single container ship voyage can cost over $17 million..."

Ligações recomendadas: alterações climáticas e ambiente

• Porque razão Londres é a única grande cidade do mundo onde as pessoas estão a trocar o transporte privado pelo transporte público? (Guardian - Comment is free)

• O peso relativo dos diversos argumentos usados contra a responsabilidade humana no aquecimento global (Skeptical Science)

• Com a ajuda do Nano indiano, o mundo terá mais de mil milhões de carros em 2020 (Dot Earth - NYT)

• Desflorestação - China e a nossa responsabilidade (DeSmogBlog)

• Notícias do gelo, no Canadá (National Post)

• Alterações climáticas: prevenção, mitigação ou remediação? (Open the Future)

• Existem, realmente, "continentes" de lixo a boiar no Pacífico? (The Daily Galaxy)

• Primeira epidemia na Europa actual de uma doença tropical (Solve Climate)