basel convention

Shipwrecking Opportunity

by Angela Logomasini on October 22, 2009

in Environment

Earlier this week, the Financial Times ran a story about a conspiracy between governments, Italian mafia, and industrialists to illegally dump ships containing hazardous waste into the Mediterranean Sea. It fails to mention the Basel Convention, which banned trade in “hazardous waste” between developed and developing nations. Because of this law, developed nations cannot send such ships or cargo to developing nations where it could be recycled. Greenpeace and similar groups pushed the Convention because they seem to think that any trade involving recycling of waste is always harmful. The reality is, such trade often creates opportunities that would lift communities out of far worse occupations or utter poverty. As noted in an earlier post, developing nations need trade—even in waste industries—to raise living standards. And as this case shows, the Convention has not stopped illegal dumping of waste; it now encourages it. While the U.S. has not ratified the Convention, we have our own misguided policies limiting options for disposal of military ships, hundreds of which now sit in ports and locations around the nation waiting for some legal disposal option to be found.

India’s Liberty Institute did a paper on the Basel Convention in the past, predicting that such restrictions would do more harm than good. Check it out.

Image source: U.S. Maritime Administration, Office of Ship Operations, Ship Disposal Program Webpage.

Wasteful Regulation

by Merin Yu on June 17, 2009 · 2 comments

in Environment, Regulation

The issue of “e-waste” has been receiving a lot of attention recently, mostly from critics concerned about discarded electronics being shipped off to developing countries for disposal (conveniently ignoring the positive business opportunities in surplus materials), yet environmentalists need to look no farther than their own government for contributing to this “problem.”

This past Saturday, June 13, 2009, all television stations in the United States began broadcasting in digital television (DTV), switching from the previous method of analog broadcasting as mandated by the federal government. The reasoning behind this switch, according to the DTV.gov website, was “to offer improved picture and sound quality,” as well as freeing up the airways for public safety communications.

In an attempt to soften the effects of this regulation, the government had the idea of offering $40 coupons to offset the costs of a converter box (which can run up to $80) that would be necessary for older televisions to continue to function. However, as of January 4, 2009, more than five months before the switch, the government had already run out of coupons. Estimates suggest that 1 in 4 households will dispose of a TV, many of them in perfect working condition, due to the switch to DTV.

The common theme here is regulation, regulation, regulation. Environmentalists are pushing for the U.S. to ratify the Basel Convention, a document preventing e-waste transfers to other countries, yet they have federal DTV regulation to add to the amount of used electronics. Glad to see all that legislation is working out for them.

Image source: Utah Dept. of Environmental Quality.