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Sponsor |  FreqWiz | Jul 25, 2007 3:23pm | The politics of global warming got very concrete, and oddly difficult, in a meeting with local environmentalists in the coastal town of McClellanville today, where Elizabeth Edwards raised in passing the importance of relying on locally-grown fruit.
"We've been moving back to 'buy local,'" Mrs. Edwards said, outlining a trade policy that "acknowledges the carbon footprint" of transporting fruit.
"I live in North Carolina. I'll probably never eat a tangerine again," she said, speaking of a time when the fruit is reaches the price that it "needs" to be.
Edwards had talked about "sacrifice," at the meeting, but Elizabeth's suggestion illustrated just how difficult it is to sell the specifics of sacrifice.
Asked about her comment immediately after the event, John Edwards avoided the question twice, then said he isn't sure.
"Would I add to the price of food?" he asked. "I'd have to think about that."
UPDATE: Just to be clear, he's not talking about a food tax. The basic point is that any plan that imposes new costs on carbon emissions is going to make anything that's transported long distances with fossil fuels cost more. It is, in a way, a moment of clarity in this debate.
No tangerines for you? |
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Sponsor | | ericthehamster | Jul 25, 2007 3:33pm | This makes sense - it is one of the reasons I cancelled my organic fruit and veg box. I had a weekly delivery from a local organic shop. However, a lot of the stuff was transported from abroad, the worst example being apples from NZ (nothing against NZ, but the carbon footprint was huge, and we have a climate suitable for apples, for heaven's sake). It would be nice to see the reintroduction of diverse and local agriculture, to replace the sort of intensive monoculture which has run rampant over the countryside in many places.
Good post, FreqWiz. |
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Sponsor | | FreqWiz | Jul 25, 2007 5:55pm | | Well I think we forget about the Carbon Footprint. I think we take for granted a lot of things without ever thinking about the carbon needed to make it. How much carbon was put in the air just to make the computer your are using to read this? |
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Sponsor | | alice44 | Jul 25, 2007 6:09pm | Although I suspect many of us do not want to give up fruits that are produced abroad, we are used to a wide variety, there is no reason that Oregonians or British should need to buy apples shipped from around the globe.
Computers should be much more upgradable so that we are not continually forced to buy a whole new exterior. Most people keep their cars much longer today than they did 20 years ago.
There is lots more progress we, as members of our societies, can demand without suffering any undo hardship. |
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Sponsor | | ericthehamster | Jul 26, 2007 2:01am | Good point about the computer FW - I do try to think about it, but I suspect a lot of things around us never occur to us. However, as we become more and more educated about this, I hope even the most jaded of us will make small changes. I agree with the idea of upgrading (and recycling) computers.
There used to loads of varieties of apples available in the UK, but thanks to monoculture, and the importation of cheaper mass produced apples, many of them are no longer grown or even heard of. |
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Global Warming → Discussion