Coastal Shipping may sound like a pretty inane topic, however it is interesting to note how important it is for developing an economy less reliant on fossil fuels. Shipping uses 75-80% less fuel that road freight; a bill before the american congress aims to put $US50 Million a year into developing coastal routes which would apparently move an estimated 20,000 truckloads a day off the roads (this seems rather high), and simultaneously create some 20,000 new jobs. A rare win-win scenario I would have thought. Over in NZ however the new National government looks to have changed our frieght development budget from $NZ27 Million to $NZ3 Million. Hurrah for short sighted right wing economics! Why are we not taking this environmental crises seriously? The righting is on the wall.
Hat tip: The Standard and Greenvoices blogs