I am not a fan of Al Gore and I do work in a company that makes sustainable cores for surfboards. Surfing, in general, is a natural pursuit that is about as pure an any.
What makes me sick about being "green" is all the talk and judgement that goes along with it. Al Gore came forward with a great movie, then wins an Academy Award for it, then has some influence to make the awards program "green". That is ALL good. Nowhere is anyone claiming that they are 100% green, 100% perfect. We are not 100% green in our company, a company that is dedicated to being green.
Ok, so Al uses more energy in his home that the national average. So what if he uses a private jet for travel. If that was his base line and he has made some improvement, it is a step in the right direction. By the way, carbon offset programs are valuable and simply not a guilt tax. It is a way to give back a little for the fact that you do use a private jet. (or an SUV for that matter)
The talking heads on both radio and TV are out of control. I saw Sean Hannity complaining "don't talk to me about my SUV if your still riding around in a private jet Al". That sounds like school kid talk where your parents would run in and say, "Now Sean two wrongs don't make a right". It's ridiculous!
I accept fully and completely believe that any small step in the right direction is still a positive step. If I drive an SUV that gets 10 miles to the gallon but can make it to work two days a week on public transportation instead of that SUV - guess what? - I still have an SUV that gets 10 miles a gallon and I have taken my first step to being more green.
Why can't these little changes be celebrated instead of everyone saying they are not enough. Imagine if everyone did one little thing, one little step in the green direction, collectively the benefits are huge. It's guys like Hannity that use his type of rhetoric that stall the whole process. Unfortunately guys like him have an audience and unfortunately too much of his audience is on the Hannity cool aid.
Please don't be afraid to take that first step no matter how small it is. You'll find it is easy and causes no hardship. Once you take one step, it will be easy to take the next. Collectively we can all, step by step, walk into a new way of doing things that will help preserve this planet and it's people for our children and generations to come.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
The Real Costs
These are boom times for China! For example, Shanxi province in northern China produced 25% of the country's coal in 2005 at a time when coal prices were soaring. Shanxi's economy grew by 12.5% in 2005, well ahead of even the astonishing 10% growth for China's economy as a whole.
However, the province is home to Linfen, Yangquan and Datong, the three most polluted cities in China. Life expectancy in Linfen is 10 years below the Chinese national average. The province closed 4,800 illegal mines in 2005 -- and the drilling of illegal wells for water have created a chronic water shortage and a steady loss of farmland as it subsides into underground mine shafts and drained aquifers.
If you subtract the costs of air and water pollution from Shanxi's growth rate, officials have told Deutsche Bank, the province's real economic growth rate is close to zero. It's easy to find economists who are even more pessimistic. The World Bank puts the costs of China's pollution at 8% of GDP. Some economists peg it as high as 10% of GDP. According to this accounting, China isn't growing at all.
Polluting the air or water, releasing toxic amounts of mercury, using so much water that a river runs dry -- these are all what economists call externalities. The costs of these externalities are paid by the general public, in the form of increased illness or higher death rates, and they remain external to the country's GDP accounts.
However, today's externality has a way of becoming tomorrow's on-the-books cost. Just ask any U.S., European or Japanese company about what it costs them to clean up their wastewater, scrub their emissions and safely dispose of their toxic waste today. Those were once externalities but now disposal is part of the cost of doing business.
The environmental figures out of China, even the official ones, are appalling. More than 400,000 of China's 1.3 billion people die from air-pollution-related illness each year, according to the Chinese Academy on Environmental Planning. About 300 million Chinese don't have access to clean drinking water, and 400 of the country's 668 largest cities are short of water. Acid rain falls over 30% of the country. Of the 20 most polluted cities on earth, according to the World Bank, 16 are in China.
Unfortunately, the part of the environment nearest to crisis also presents the toughest nut to crack. China is rapidly running out of water. Industries can't get enough. City dwellers can't get enough. Farmers can't get enough. Parts of the country look like they're headed into permanent drought as surging demand teams up with falling supply to produce scarcity no matter how much water the clouds bring. For the past 25 years, China has been able to feed itself, but the water shortage is bad enough to put this in doubt. According to James Kynge in his 2006 book, "China Shakes the World," China uses seven to 20 times more water per unit of GDP than the developed countries of the world.
The alternative is business as usual in China, with growth at all costs. Go far enough down that road, and the costs of paying for those environmental externalities gets big enough so that even China's booming economy can't pay it.
However, the province is home to Linfen, Yangquan and Datong, the three most polluted cities in China. Life expectancy in Linfen is 10 years below the Chinese national average. The province closed 4,800 illegal mines in 2005 -- and the drilling of illegal wells for water have created a chronic water shortage and a steady loss of farmland as it subsides into underground mine shafts and drained aquifers.
If you subtract the costs of air and water pollution from Shanxi's growth rate, officials have told Deutsche Bank, the province's real economic growth rate is close to zero. It's easy to find economists who are even more pessimistic. The World Bank puts the costs of China's pollution at 8% of GDP. Some economists peg it as high as 10% of GDP. According to this accounting, China isn't growing at all.
Polluting the air or water, releasing toxic amounts of mercury, using so much water that a river runs dry -- these are all what economists call externalities. The costs of these externalities are paid by the general public, in the form of increased illness or higher death rates, and they remain external to the country's GDP accounts.
However, today's externality has a way of becoming tomorrow's on-the-books cost. Just ask any U.S., European or Japanese company about what it costs them to clean up their wastewater, scrub their emissions and safely dispose of their toxic waste today. Those were once externalities but now disposal is part of the cost of doing business.
The environmental figures out of China, even the official ones, are appalling. More than 400,000 of China's 1.3 billion people die from air-pollution-related illness each year, according to the Chinese Academy on Environmental Planning. About 300 million Chinese don't have access to clean drinking water, and 400 of the country's 668 largest cities are short of water. Acid rain falls over 30% of the country. Of the 20 most polluted cities on earth, according to the World Bank, 16 are in China.
Unfortunately, the part of the environment nearest to crisis also presents the toughest nut to crack. China is rapidly running out of water. Industries can't get enough. City dwellers can't get enough. Farmers can't get enough. Parts of the country look like they're headed into permanent drought as surging demand teams up with falling supply to produce scarcity no matter how much water the clouds bring. For the past 25 years, China has been able to feed itself, but the water shortage is bad enough to put this in doubt. According to James Kynge in his 2006 book, "China Shakes the World," China uses seven to 20 times more water per unit of GDP than the developed countries of the world.
The alternative is business as usual in China, with growth at all costs. Go far enough down that road, and the costs of paying for those environmental externalities gets big enough so that even China's booming economy can't pay it.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Is the Playing Field Level?
Below are some thoughts to consider. Again I do not come from a place of protectionism but rather fair competition. Most of the statistics below come from MSN Money's Jim Jubak. Numbers are one thing but the important part here, I believe, is the costs the numbers are not showing. Too often we operate from a position of always fixing past wrongs instead of being aware and thoughtful as we move forward. I don't believe it is too late but time marches on...
China's economy grew 10.7% in 2006, the fourth consecutive year of double-digit growth and the highest growth rate since the 10.9% recorded in 1995. And the Chinese economy did it last year without even breaking a sweat: Inflation came in at a core rate of just 1.5%.
While China certainly is not about to slip backward into global economic insignificance, it appears that the current growth has been built on nonrenewable human, environmental and capital resources. And when those resources have been mined for the easy gains, China's rate of growth will fall back to something like "normal."
What's more, the central government has tolerated an internal migrant worker system that assures Chinese industry of an even-larger army of even-lower-cost workers. It works like this. A peasant looking for a better life can move to a city or an industrial zone and get a job. But they can't get a "hukou," the certificate of residence required to access public services such as schools, health care and unemployment benefits. These migrant workers live crammed in company dormitories, usually earning far below the official minimum wage and sometimes as little as $1 for a 12-hour day, doing the dirtiest and most dangerous work that no worker with a certificate of residence wants. And quite often, the company refuses to pay the migrant worker even those wages. Official Chinese government figures say that more than 70% of the country's migrant workers were owed pay by their employers last December.
Estimates of the number of migrant workers in China range from 110 million to 120 million. With a population of 7.5 million registered residents, a city such as Guangzhou, the export capital of southern China, couldn't run without its 3.7 million migrant workers. Whole industries would come to a halt: Migrants make up 80% of all urban construction workers and 68% of workers in manufacturing, according to UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization).
China's migrant workers don't have access to the financial and legal systems. Workers who have filed claims for back pay have been beaten or arrested and charged legal fees so high that they couldn't pursue their claims. That's left them waiting for government action.
The situation isn't sustainable. Acts of protest are increasing: In 2004 there were 74,000 protests (not all by migrant workers) involving 3.8 million people, up from 10,000 protests in 1994. Some migrant workers are simply going home to protest bad working conditions and a lack of pay. Either the Beijing government will find some way to force local officials and employers to share the wealth more evenly or the costs to the economy -- in protests and workers who vote with their feet -- will continue to rise.
Just as important - or more so - traditional accounting doesn't consider the cost of environmental damage. MSN Money's Jim Jubak suggests that investors should be considering these off-the-balance-sheet costs, and their long-term effects on production, as global warming and pollution become bigger issues.
China's economy grew 10.7% in 2006, the fourth consecutive year of double-digit growth and the highest growth rate since the 10.9% recorded in 1995. And the Chinese economy did it last year without even breaking a sweat: Inflation came in at a core rate of just 1.5%.
While China certainly is not about to slip backward into global economic insignificance, it appears that the current growth has been built on nonrenewable human, environmental and capital resources. And when those resources have been mined for the easy gains, China's rate of growth will fall back to something like "normal."
What's more, the central government has tolerated an internal migrant worker system that assures Chinese industry of an even-larger army of even-lower-cost workers. It works like this. A peasant looking for a better life can move to a city or an industrial zone and get a job. But they can't get a "hukou," the certificate of residence required to access public services such as schools, health care and unemployment benefits. These migrant workers live crammed in company dormitories, usually earning far below the official minimum wage and sometimes as little as $1 for a 12-hour day, doing the dirtiest and most dangerous work that no worker with a certificate of residence wants. And quite often, the company refuses to pay the migrant worker even those wages. Official Chinese government figures say that more than 70% of the country's migrant workers were owed pay by their employers last December.
Estimates of the number of migrant workers in China range from 110 million to 120 million. With a population of 7.5 million registered residents, a city such as Guangzhou, the export capital of southern China, couldn't run without its 3.7 million migrant workers. Whole industries would come to a halt: Migrants make up 80% of all urban construction workers and 68% of workers in manufacturing, according to UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization).
China's migrant workers don't have access to the financial and legal systems. Workers who have filed claims for back pay have been beaten or arrested and charged legal fees so high that they couldn't pursue their claims. That's left them waiting for government action.
The situation isn't sustainable. Acts of protest are increasing: In 2004 there were 74,000 protests (not all by migrant workers) involving 3.8 million people, up from 10,000 protests in 1994. Some migrant workers are simply going home to protest bad working conditions and a lack of pay. Either the Beijing government will find some way to force local officials and employers to share the wealth more evenly or the costs to the economy -- in protests and workers who vote with their feet -- will continue to rise.
Just as important - or more so - traditional accounting doesn't consider the cost of environmental damage. MSN Money's Jim Jubak suggests that investors should be considering these off-the-balance-sheet costs, and their long-term effects on production, as global warming and pollution become bigger issues.
Friday, February 23, 2007
There is Hope
Under the auspices of the Global Compact initiative established by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, NGOs, international business and labor organizations as well as representatives from the world of science and politics are working closely together with the aim of forging a global economy based on the principles of sustainable development.
The Ten Principles of the Global Compact
Principle 1:
Support and respect the protection of international human rights within the sphere of influence;
Principle 2:
Make sure corporations are not complicit in human rights abuses;
Principle 3:
Freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining;
Principle 4:
The elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labor;
Principle 5:
The effective abolition of child labor;
Principle 6:
The elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation;
Principle 7:
Support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges;
Principle 8:
Undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility;
Principle 9:
Encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies;
Principle 10:
Work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery.
The Ten Principles of the Global Compact
Principle 1:
Support and respect the protection of international human rights within the sphere of influence;
Principle 2:
Make sure corporations are not complicit in human rights abuses;
Principle 3:
Freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining;
Principle 4:
The elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labor;
Principle 5:
The effective abolition of child labor;
Principle 6:
The elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation;
Principle 7:
Support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges;
Principle 8:
Undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility;
Principle 9:
Encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies;
Principle 10:
Work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
My World
I work in the surf industry. There are many things happening in my world that I believe are a microcosm of other industries here in the US. My point of view is not protectionist as I believe we need to be competitive however I do believe to be fair we need a more level playing field. Also surfing is a special. The experience can't be quantified like other industries are. It is a completely unique and personal experience. Here are some thoughts on that...
Wake Up!
I don’t know what has happened to our wonderful world of surfing. The craze for collectors to find old long boards has now moved into the 70’s era and beyond. It is a good thing that a history is now developed, understood and preserved through museums and collectors. However, as I think back on the history, one thing stands out far above board design, movies, magazines, clothing companies, etc. and that, my humble reader, is individuality.
This new wave of surfboard construction with boards being made in molds is killing individuality and is starting to look like what happened in Detroit. Just look at the beautiful cars of the ‘60s compared to today’s wedges. Any kid could stand on the side of the road and name the cars because they were each different and individual. Today it is hard to tell a Mercedes from Hyundai. Our surfboard industry is going the same way. That saddens me.
When one shaper, designer, or artist comes up with something new there seems to be a mad rush for everyone else to have their version of it right away. Rennie Yater is building some of the most beautiful surfboards on the planet working together with Kevin Ancell and the Abalone/Mother of Pearl inlays. I sincerely hope he gets to keep this to himself. Once everyone else is doing this, it devalues the entire lot.
As a kid I remember being very thoughtful in the selection of each of my new boards. Besides having a great shape by someone that I admired in the surfing world, I also wanted some special color I liked or a different design from everything else. That was so important. Today, a surfer could be caught at the beach standing next to another surfer with the exact same board! Not only same color, but same shape, decal placement, fin – everything! That is because these new boards were popped out of the same mold in an asian (or elsewhere) factory.
Yes, it is true that surfboard technology holds no secrets or special skills that can’t be learned by any reasonably talented craftsman. It is also true that the person smoothing grooves on a machined blank or laminating or sanding doesn’t have to be a surfer but I feel there is something missing without that connection. Is that the elusive “soul” that everyone speaks about? Is this connection the essence of soul? Maybe it’s not whether a shaping machine was used or not, but the degree to which the craftsman is involved with the final product. I’m not sure I have the answer but I do know something is missing.
There was a day when a surfer would only get a board from a guy that had experience with that place or size or style, etc. You wouldn’t go to a known long board shaper to get the state of the art in short board design – not because the long board shaper wasn’t capable of doing a short board but because the short board shaper would have a closer connection to the experience. Today, we have boards by the thousands coming out of factories where some of the workers haven’t even seen the sea. Where is the connection?
I was recently in a surf shop with a display of beautiful new carbon fiber boards. The boards looked great, the technology is awesome and all five of them lined up to make a beautiful presentation looked exactly the same – shiny black carbon. Where is the individuality in that? To me it’s the difference between original art and getting a digital copy printed on canvas. Yes, the image is still good, it still looks nice hanging on the wall, and it looks exactly like your neighbor’s hanging on his wall. It’s bad enough that we go to Ikea for furniture (and art?) and to Walmart for clothes and (it’s almost sacrilege) to Costco for a surfboard.
Has a surfboard just become another commodity to be manufactured, used up and tossed up on the heap of other waste we so readily produce? Many people talk about the cost and yes, Costco has been selling boards for less that I can buy the materials to make my own. Cost, however, must be considered in the broader sense. What is the cost to the shapers, laminators, pin liners, sanders, etc. that have put in a life time of dedication to something they live everyday? Look at what the cost has been to Detroit since cars have become a commodity. Surfboards, even far more than cars, should not fall into the commodity realm.
Surfing and surfboards must remain the realm of the individual and there are two key ingredients that separate surfing and surfboards from all other things that we have and do. To me one of the most beautiful things about surfing and surfboards is its purely subjective nature. The surfboard then is a purely personal experience and the ride on the wave is a purely individual interpretation of the experience.
There are no constants in surfboards. This fact is demonstrated everyday by the fact that two surfers could each have a board they love yet when they switch boards they could both feel like they are riding dogs. This fact is also true of the massed produced machine shaped and molded boards. No two ride identically and therefore personal preference becomes the quantifier of what is good and bad.
This subtle truth also differentiates surfing from everything else. Even the closest connections with a sport like snowboarding, don’t have the individual feelings from board to board. That together with the fact that in any other outdoor sport, anywhere on the fall line the rider can stop and pick his line. This changes the entire scenario. One of the surf companies nailed it when they came up with the tag line…”Only a Surfer Knows the Feeling”. This is absolutely true and true not only of surfing but of surfboard manufacturing as well.
I think it is time to wake up. Surfing is a chance to be an individual, slow down, breathe deep, appreciate life, and be a part of the natural world. Let’s keep surfing and surfboards apart from the rest of our crazy world. Let’s leave this last bit of nature’s magic to those that have experienced it and then can translate that magic through the tips of their collective fingers into something that is beyond the realm of commodity. With a respect for the individual, the commodity can’t survive. Wake up!
Wake Up!
I don’t know what has happened to our wonderful world of surfing. The craze for collectors to find old long boards has now moved into the 70’s era and beyond. It is a good thing that a history is now developed, understood and preserved through museums and collectors. However, as I think back on the history, one thing stands out far above board design, movies, magazines, clothing companies, etc. and that, my humble reader, is individuality.
This new wave of surfboard construction with boards being made in molds is killing individuality and is starting to look like what happened in Detroit. Just look at the beautiful cars of the ‘60s compared to today’s wedges. Any kid could stand on the side of the road and name the cars because they were each different and individual. Today it is hard to tell a Mercedes from Hyundai. Our surfboard industry is going the same way. That saddens me.
When one shaper, designer, or artist comes up with something new there seems to be a mad rush for everyone else to have their version of it right away. Rennie Yater is building some of the most beautiful surfboards on the planet working together with Kevin Ancell and the Abalone/Mother of Pearl inlays. I sincerely hope he gets to keep this to himself. Once everyone else is doing this, it devalues the entire lot.
As a kid I remember being very thoughtful in the selection of each of my new boards. Besides having a great shape by someone that I admired in the surfing world, I also wanted some special color I liked or a different design from everything else. That was so important. Today, a surfer could be caught at the beach standing next to another surfer with the exact same board! Not only same color, but same shape, decal placement, fin – everything! That is because these new boards were popped out of the same mold in an asian (or elsewhere) factory.
Yes, it is true that surfboard technology holds no secrets or special skills that can’t be learned by any reasonably talented craftsman. It is also true that the person smoothing grooves on a machined blank or laminating or sanding doesn’t have to be a surfer but I feel there is something missing without that connection. Is that the elusive “soul” that everyone speaks about? Is this connection the essence of soul? Maybe it’s not whether a shaping machine was used or not, but the degree to which the craftsman is involved with the final product. I’m not sure I have the answer but I do know something is missing.
There was a day when a surfer would only get a board from a guy that had experience with that place or size or style, etc. You wouldn’t go to a known long board shaper to get the state of the art in short board design – not because the long board shaper wasn’t capable of doing a short board but because the short board shaper would have a closer connection to the experience. Today, we have boards by the thousands coming out of factories where some of the workers haven’t even seen the sea. Where is the connection?
I was recently in a surf shop with a display of beautiful new carbon fiber boards. The boards looked great, the technology is awesome and all five of them lined up to make a beautiful presentation looked exactly the same – shiny black carbon. Where is the individuality in that? To me it’s the difference between original art and getting a digital copy printed on canvas. Yes, the image is still good, it still looks nice hanging on the wall, and it looks exactly like your neighbor’s hanging on his wall. It’s bad enough that we go to Ikea for furniture (and art?) and to Walmart for clothes and (it’s almost sacrilege) to Costco for a surfboard.
Has a surfboard just become another commodity to be manufactured, used up and tossed up on the heap of other waste we so readily produce? Many people talk about the cost and yes, Costco has been selling boards for less that I can buy the materials to make my own. Cost, however, must be considered in the broader sense. What is the cost to the shapers, laminators, pin liners, sanders, etc. that have put in a life time of dedication to something they live everyday? Look at what the cost has been to Detroit since cars have become a commodity. Surfboards, even far more than cars, should not fall into the commodity realm.
Surfing and surfboards must remain the realm of the individual and there are two key ingredients that separate surfing and surfboards from all other things that we have and do. To me one of the most beautiful things about surfing and surfboards is its purely subjective nature. The surfboard then is a purely personal experience and the ride on the wave is a purely individual interpretation of the experience.
There are no constants in surfboards. This fact is demonstrated everyday by the fact that two surfers could each have a board they love yet when they switch boards they could both feel like they are riding dogs. This fact is also true of the massed produced machine shaped and molded boards. No two ride identically and therefore personal preference becomes the quantifier of what is good and bad.
This subtle truth also differentiates surfing from everything else. Even the closest connections with a sport like snowboarding, don’t have the individual feelings from board to board. That together with the fact that in any other outdoor sport, anywhere on the fall line the rider can stop and pick his line. This changes the entire scenario. One of the surf companies nailed it when they came up with the tag line…”Only a Surfer Knows the Feeling”. This is absolutely true and true not only of surfing but of surfboard manufacturing as well.
I think it is time to wake up. Surfing is a chance to be an individual, slow down, breathe deep, appreciate life, and be a part of the natural world. Let’s keep surfing and surfboards apart from the rest of our crazy world. Let’s leave this last bit of nature’s magic to those that have experienced it and then can translate that magic through the tips of their collective fingers into something that is beyond the realm of commodity. With a respect for the individual, the commodity can’t survive. Wake up!
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
February 21st 2007
Today is the day I start to write, and more importantly, to learn about this new way of communicating. I have always been interested in the human condition and believe that everyone deserves an opportunity to grow and learn. Ultimately they will be the ones that decide for themselves where to go with all this wonder that we have before us every day.
Forcing people to change to conform to a certain system, way of life, or even religion is ultimately impossible. For a short while, people will fold to force but only until the collective spirit rises up again. The issues are so big and so important but as they say, to get there is just a matter of one bite at a time.
A recent event got me really thinking on these issues. I read a book called The Outlaw Sea by William Langwiesche. I was originally drawn to it simply because it was another book about ships and the ocean - I just can't seem to get enough of them. One chapter had me captivated and was an example of the complexities we now face in deciding what is best.
The chapter was about the ship breaking beaches in southern India. Greenpeace, a group that I would normally feel good about supporting, was attempting to shut things down. The beaches are a toxic mess and the work is dangerous yet this work ends up providing work for thousands that end up providing for their families where other work simply isn't available. The ship does get completely taken apart and almost everything is recycled - the steel, wiring, piping, etc. Shutting this place down would put an end to the environmental mess but it would also put an end to a livelihood for thousands.
So what is right? Why should the people from Greenpeace have a say? What about local authority? Is there a better way to provide the service of shipbreaking together with making a safer, more environmentally responsible place to do this?
The choices are huge and as the planet gets smaller, these decisions begin to effect us all. Getting the discussion started is the first step or for some the first bite.
Forcing people to change to conform to a certain system, way of life, or even religion is ultimately impossible. For a short while, people will fold to force but only until the collective spirit rises up again. The issues are so big and so important but as they say, to get there is just a matter of one bite at a time.
A recent event got me really thinking on these issues. I read a book called The Outlaw Sea by William Langwiesche. I was originally drawn to it simply because it was another book about ships and the ocean - I just can't seem to get enough of them. One chapter had me captivated and was an example of the complexities we now face in deciding what is best.
The chapter was about the ship breaking beaches in southern India. Greenpeace, a group that I would normally feel good about supporting, was attempting to shut things down. The beaches are a toxic mess and the work is dangerous yet this work ends up providing work for thousands that end up providing for their families where other work simply isn't available. The ship does get completely taken apart and almost everything is recycled - the steel, wiring, piping, etc. Shutting this place down would put an end to the environmental mess but it would also put an end to a livelihood for thousands.
So what is right? Why should the people from Greenpeace have a say? What about local authority? Is there a better way to provide the service of shipbreaking together with making a safer, more environmentally responsible place to do this?
The choices are huge and as the planet gets smaller, these decisions begin to effect us all. Getting the discussion started is the first step or for some the first bite.
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