tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9437268.post1420827936383634150..comments2024-02-03T07:12:06.620-05:00Comments on U.S. Food Policy: New pressures in the phosphate dilemmausfoodpolicyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17098394318544229984noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9437268.post-53355462336095376482010-01-17T11:23:42.692-05:002010-01-17T11:23:42.692-05:00Mining comes closer to Tampa, Florida, USA.
http:/...Mining comes closer to Tampa, Florida, USA.<br />http://protectpeaceriver.org/index.html<br />strip mining impacts land erosion<br />(most of Florida is SAND) and flooding/drought EXTREME cycles.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9437268.post-14676287746329133272009-08-12T06:18:41.450-04:002009-08-12T06:18:41.450-04:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9437268.post-66283396980077868542009-07-30T16:54:47.731-04:002009-07-30T16:54:47.731-04:00The most common U.S. center left answer to that qu...The most common U.S. center left answer to that question is to include labor and environmental standards as part of trade negotiations. <br /><br />That's fine with me, but my attention is elsewhere. <br /><br />The long-term solution to the "race to the bottom" is truly to lift the bottom. Good environmental regulation is a product of middle class democratic politics. There is an anti-trade and isolationist strand in progressive American politics, based on a deep pessimism that things will ever be any better in poor countries. That's not my strand. I hold out more hope for robust middle classes in India and China and Mexico, who can demand good environmental rules.<br /><br />Recently, I loved reading about the modern <a href="http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/15/tata-building-ultra-cheap-homes/" rel="nofollow">Tata apartment design</a> in Mumbia, India. Realistically or not, it generated a daydream about a million young people in Mumbia, wearing hip clothes, eating good (mostly vegetarian) food, living in tiny but fashionable apartments, flirting, watching cool shows and listening to cool music on small electronic devices, enjoying nightclubs, though being too poor to afford a car. <br /><br />If that is the future we hope for Indian and Chinese youth, it would be just to try to envision something similar for our own children. I really am not sure our grandchildren will have a good world to live in, but if they do, it will probably look like that.usfoodpolicyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17098394318544229984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9437268.post-57226306489558917052009-07-30T16:29:00.707-04:002009-07-30T16:29:00.707-04:00Parke, is there any applicable thinking in academi...Parke, is there any applicable thinking in academia on how to overcome the "race to the bottom"-type disincentives for country-level environmental regulation? (e.g., if everywhere else has strict environmental regulation, a given poor country has an incentive to avoid it if the lower costs mean they can produce more fertilizer and thus generate more revenue and employment)<br /><br />Obviously this applies widely to extractive industries in general, not just phosphate fertilizer... maybe there are parallels from international labor standards?Rhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00382535839751044401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9437268.post-62866307158914993372009-07-30T14:52:15.544-04:002009-07-30T14:52:15.544-04:00A reader asks by email how the train wreck can be ...A reader asks by email how the train wreck can be avoided.<br /><br />Some tentative thoughts: Best thing is to eat with lower environmental impact (especially less meat). Also, good environmental regulation of phosphate mining and remediation worldwide is wise, even if it then makes phosphate fertilizer more expensive. That higher price of fertilizer then feeds a response from farmers who can weigh the production advantages and cost disadvantages of increased application more wisely.usfoodpolicyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17098394318544229984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9437268.post-30004251047511012372009-07-30T11:01:41.283-04:002009-07-30T11:01:41.283-04:00That's the beauty of blogging - no shame in up...That's the beauty of blogging - no shame in updating!Rhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00382535839751044401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9437268.post-32205258656497947462009-07-30T10:26:54.840-04:002009-07-30T10:26:54.840-04:00Thanks, R, for the better data and the thoughtful ...Thanks, R, for the better data and the thoughtful comments. I've added another update to the original post, acknowledging the recent price data. Despite the embarrassment of encumbering the post with three updates (argh), perhaps the revised post shows off the efficiently collaborative nature of web-based writing.usfoodpolicyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17098394318544229984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9437268.post-32418596196255405612009-07-30T10:15:01.084-04:002009-07-30T10:15:01.084-04:00Agree that the environmental footprint of phosphat...Agree that the environmental footprint of phosphate mining is terrible, and the existing legacy in the U.S. is terrible whether or not current production is expanded (or even continued at current levels).<br /><br />On the price side, phosphate fertilizer prices have fallen back to 2006 levels (see Figure 3):<br /><br />http://cropwatch.unl.edu/archives/2009/crop7/fertilizer_prices.htm<br /><br />Higher prices (past and future) will likely spur incremental supply coming from other parts of the world with lower cash costs of production and environmental restrictions (e.g. North Africa). Overall, the FAO predicts phosphate fertilizers will have surplus capacity by 2011/2012 (see first link and p15, 17 of second link):<br /><br />http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2008/1000792/index.html<br />ftp://ftp.fao.org/agl/agll/docs/cwfto11.pdf<br /><br />Unfortunately, the environmental problems from new mines will likely be similar, but receive even less attention than they would here in the U.S. Outsourcing our environmental footprint is obviously not a good solution at a planetary level.<br /><br />Parke, I agree that using fewer environmental resources per person is critical; I think the key practical question here is how to incentivize that in the specific case of the global fertilizer market.Rhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00382535839751044401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9437268.post-22811710865574128512009-07-30T10:06:31.470-04:002009-07-30T10:06:31.470-04:00We can think of our impact on resource use and the...We can think of our impact on resource use and the environment as a function of our population size multiplied by the average impact per person. The happiest route to sustainability would be to let population levels slowly peak and finally decline in the next century with a rising global standard of living, while at the same time using fewer environmental resources per person than current U.S. averages.<br /><br />That's my dream.<br /><br />If we don't pursue that path, I would guess that, at some point in the next few generations, our population will be adjusted with our without our permission.usfoodpolicyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17098394318544229984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9437268.post-85694189054245598162009-07-30T09:53:40.370-04:002009-07-30T09:53:40.370-04:00Is this manifesting the pollution consequence of p...Is this manifesting the pollution consequence of population overshoot in "The Limits to Growth"?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9437268.post-69837614678458252262009-07-30T06:37:40.278-04:002009-07-30T06:37:40.278-04:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Zamankhanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13386731800837618916noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9437268.post-8271945990023253972009-07-30T06:15:50.249-04:002009-07-30T06:15:50.249-04:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Zamankhanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13386731800837618916noreply@blogger.com