smoke

[samhill]

Bucket, the trucking industry is simple economics. There are millions of people in N. America employed by the trucking industry, including hiway construction, tire service, truck stops, truck sales and repairs likely more in shipping and receiving, plus accounting.
Replace it with good rail service and cost of goods drops considerably, but a lot of jobs disappear.
Bringing a load of fruit from the Okanagan one time I stopped in Speedy Creek and a guy says "with diesel at $1.25, how long can you keep running that truck".
I said another $500 in fuel on a $50K load doesn't make much difference, besides, the consumer pays for it all with non tax deductible money.
Truck freight is a big part of the N. American economy.

[ColevilleH2S]

A bit of perspective from the 30,000 foot level:
<a href="http://s335.photobucket.com/user/npksetal/media/Mobile%20Uploads/sources-of-greenhouse-gases.gif_zpsdltxijed.png.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m441/npksetal/Mobile%20Uploads/sources-of-greenhouse-gases.gif_zpsdltxijed.png" border="0" alt="vapour photo sources-of-greenhouse-gases.gif_zpsdltxijed.png"/></a>

[TOM4CWB]

So our drought is reducing global warming in western Canada!!! Wow... how does that work! Less cloud, more sunlight absorbed warming the land, temps go up, making more water vapour, in the US midwest just not here!

I think this may be better called 'Smoke and Mirrors!"

[farmaholic]

WTF....water vapour? I did take chemistry is school and water has three states but I didnt think its composition changed. Where is the carbon in H2O? So carbon isn't the demon they thought it was?

[bucket]

Samhill

That doesn't make it right or productive does it?

By that logic we should start trucking grain to the west coast thinking the consumer will pay for it?

[wmoebis]

Sam the only problem with your scenario "in the grain industry" is that WE the farmer pays the trucking costs and WE the tax payer pays for the highway repairs.

[wmoebis]

Remember the trucking incentives that grain companies used to pass on from the multi car loading incentives? Oh ya they are being absorbed by the Co's now!

[fjlip]

Chinese farm model, 4 acres worked by hand would increase employment, be 100 times the cost for food but hey consumer pays or dies.

[TOM4CWB]

Farma,

From Wiki "Greenhouse gases are those that can absorb and emit infrared radiation,[1] but not radiation in or near the visible spectrum. In order, the most abundant greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere are:

Water vapor (H2O)
Carbon dioxide (CO2)
Methane (CH4)
Nitrous oxide (N2O)
Ozone (O3)
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)

Plants and animals would all die without these primary life building blocks.

All 'smoke and mirrors' This world is going to be swallowed up by the sun anyway... just as my favourite professor said!!!

Going back to prehuman settlement is impossible...

We can do the best possible to look after our planet... there is nothing wrong with this!!!

Are humans not a part of Nature and the natural environment? Who decided that?

Smoke and Mirrors!

[samhill]

Bucket, I agree it's horribly inefficient, 7 times as much fuel to move by truck than by train. But politicians need tax money and the only people who pay tax are those who work, well, of course there are others, but not as many.