Climate Crisis AM 11/2
A major problem with efforts to arrest climate change is shipping and the engines ships use, according to The New York Times. The newspaper points out Danish shipping operator Maersk has created engines that burn methanol. The Times further comments that the industry may not adopt the technology, which would involve replacing power plants on hundreds of ships
The pollution created by large commercial vessels is not limited to engine type. The industry has a problem it cannot control. The Panama Canal has had to cut use because of drought, which lowers the number of ships that can use it each month. These ships circle outside the canal and burn huge amounts of fossil fuel as they wait for their turns to move from the Atlantic to the Pacific or in the other direction. To use a longer route would trigger a much larger use of engine oil.
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The Fed is softly pushing banks to be careful about which companies and institutions may have risky financial futures due to climate change. These would be organizations that face climate effects that could trigger revenue or balance sheet problems. According to The Wall Street Journal, the Fed also wants banks to consider “stresses to institutions or sectors arising from the shifts in policy, consumer and business sentiment, or technologies associated with the changes that would be part of a transition to a lower carbon economy.”
The problem with the Fed’s “suggestion” is that it cannot force bank risk assessment for climate risk. Banks will continue to lend to credit-worthy customers no matter whether they are green or not.
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The Washington Post has published an analysis of the promises wealthy nations have made to poor nations to underwrite their efforts to have greener economies. This has not worked. As for specific projects to support these plans, the Post reports, “Many are years behind schedule or still years away from sending money, delayed by political fights, bureaucratic snags and debates over new rules to expedite aid from development banks and private donors.”
The challenge for these efforts is not only that they are immensely complex. They also carry with them untenable levels of monitoring and administration. That means they will almost certainly not work.
