Camden Commentary: Anti-capitalist Green eco-weenies now going after profits of struggling U.S. airline industry

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Anti-capitalist Green eco-weenies now going after profits of struggling U.S. airline industry

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/03/02/airline.recycling.report/index.html?hpt=C2

10 comments:

Anonymous said...: Why should this be interpreted as being anti-capitalistic and described as "going after the profits of struggling the U.S. airline industries?" Some of the airlines are separating and recycling their trash already and they do not seem to be hurting any worse than those who do not. Delta started recycling without any fan-fare and, evidently finds the practice economically sound.

Most of the experts, from engineers to politicians, recognize that economically sound business and renewable energy development is the new industrial revolution. We will run out of non-renewable energy sources. It's not a question of if but when and will we be ready. Food will become a crisis. Water is already becoming o problem in this country. Realists know that these problems are looming and know that future fortunes will be made adapting to them. The capitalists of the future are already moving toward environmentalism, renewable energy production, and the "green revolution." Industrialists who are stuck in the old way of doing things will be left behind.; March 2, 2010 at 4:59 PM
Jay Moreno said...: No, actually tha tis not true. The truth is that you bastards have taken a lesson from Jesse Jackson in corporate blackmail. Being beholding to the best financial interests of their stockholders, corporate execs who know damend well that the majority of recycling is not economically justifiable fall like dominos to you people's threats of adversely effecting their bottom lines with bad PR.; March 2, 2010 at 8:32 PM
Anonymous said...: It is not a matter of blackmail, it is simply a matter of good business and sound economics. There are millions of citizens in this country who, when give a choice between environmental friendly and non-friendly product or services, will choose the environmentally friendly. As an example, look at the surprising sales and popularity of the Prius and other hybrids. In my opinion, they are under performing, marginally attractive, over-priced and, on analysis, don't really save much energy. But they sell (Toyota's present problems aside).

I have a friend who started making organic, environmentally friendly soaps and toothpaste in his garage over 20 years ago. We warned him that he should not quit his day job but he was adamant the this would be the big wave of the future. He kept going, got his products into a few stores, hired a few people, moved out of his garage, and kept growing. The rest of the story is that Tom's of Maine recently partnered with Colgate-Palmolive and Tom and Kate, the owners, have made an outrageous amount of money.

The concept that a vocal minority can "blackmail" a major business into adopting a money-losing policy is is simply naive. Big businesses make decisions based on profit and loss. Sure, they try to maintain a good public image but they will quickly ignore any idea that costs them money and doesn't have the support of a significant percentage of their customers. The simple fact is that a very significant percentage of the population now supports some level of conservation and environmentalism. That percentage is growing and many businesses are paying attention.; March 3, 2010 at 9:00 AM
Jay Moreno said...: Clearly, you are attempting the old baffle 'em with bullshit dodge. The original subject was not fuel efficiency - which clearly has the potential for making economic sense at this time of high costs. The bullet you are attempting to dodge is the FACT that most recycling efforts produce a net COST, not a net economic benefit.

Coprpations that cave in to you pepole have made the economic calculation that the goodwill value of placates you fools ultimately makes more economic sense than telling you to shove it.; March 3, 2010 at 10:16 AM
Anonymous said...: No, I am not the one who is trying to baffle with bullshit. Your original quote and the topic of this thread was "Anti-capitalist Green eco-weenies now going after profits of struggling U.S. airline industry"

I am simply trying to make the point the ecologically sound business practices are not necessarily anti-capitalistic which seems to be your opinion. Ecological consciousness is rapidly becoming the norm for a growing segment of our population. Smart businesses recognize this trend and tailor their business practices and products in an environmentally friendly manner.

Please note that I have expressed no personal environmental opinion one way or the other. This discussion has no bearing on my personal beliefs. In fact, I drive a gas guzzling SUV, don't recycle, run my thermostat too high in winter and too low in summer, and eat lots of meat and too much junk food. But if I were to start a new business today, I would look to the rapidly growing environmental/conservation industry. I am not necessarily an environmentalist but I am a businessman.; March 3, 2010 at 11:00 AM
Anonymous said...: You said "The bullet you are attempting to dodge is the FACT that most recycling efforts produce a net COST, not a net economic benefit."

You are absolutely correct. Many, probably most, recycling efforts are unprofitable TODAY. But recycling is not for today, it is for the future. Most business ventures have a start-up period when they do not turn a profit. You just have to be able to capitalize and hang in there for the future. Recycling is a huge, many faceted, relatively new industry. If it is to be a part of the overall business plan for our economy, we have to start and build up to profitability. The stance that this is just too expensive and that business cannot afford it is destructively short-sighted. Actually, as a civilization and an economy we cannot afford not to embrace rational recycling and conservation.; March 3, 2010 at 11:35 AM
Jay Moreno said...: Oh, by the way, when that silly-assed Earth Hour comes along, while the weenies are turning their lights off for an hour, I will be showing my appreciation to the dependable Georgia Power employees who risk life and limb to come out in raging storms to restore power by turning on every light and electricity consuming device I own to help offset the mindless assault of the Green eco-weenies upon their revenue stream.; March 3, 2010 at 11:53 AM
Anonymous said...: Jay,

One goal of that "silly assed Earth Hour" is to raise awareness of the amount of electricity and other non-renewable resources used by a typical household in an hour. I see that it has worked with you and you have become aware. Congratulations.; March 3, 2010 at 12:50 PM
Jay Moreno said...: Well, at least the first sentence of your second paragraph was correct: it's a start.

There is a far more logical solution to dealing with recyclable (at some point) trash.
Just go ahead and collect it in the least labor intensive way possible (i.e., not segregated) and haul it to the nearest landfill. Let the biodegradable materials decompose to produce recoverable methane gas for fuel.
At some point in the future,when the dump has stopped producing enough methane to make it economicaly viable to recover it AND there are actually sufficient shortages of the recoverable commodities to make them worth MINING the methane depleted dumps, THEN - and only then - do you mine the dumps with portable mininmg and sorting operations. That's at least fifty years into our future if not more.; March 3, 2010 at 3:41 PM
Anonymous said...: Spoken like a true St. Marys/Camden County politician. Never pay today for anything if you can put off action to the future even if you could save money by doing it today. Never plan today, put it on the back burner and let our children and grand-children worry about it. Don't worry about resource conservation, Just bury it all in a land fill. If we run out, we can go back and dig it up.; March 9, 2010 at 4:15 PM