Reply to post: Re: "moves those emissions to China"

Re: "moves those emissions to China"

The Church of St Jobs is at least (on the surface anyway) trying to reduce emissions all round.

Window dressing. The whole point of making things in China is that everything is cheaper there for the simple reason that China has lower living standards, lower emission standards, lower pollution controls, lower labour standards, lower human rights standards, no tolerance of dissent or whistleblowing, and a very relaxed approach to forcing people out of their homes to suit industrial or infrastructure needs. Having a few wind turbines connected to your OEM's factory doesn't avoid the vast embodied energy of all the infrastructure, manufacturing and housing facilities, and it doesn't do anything for the embodied energy of the significant raw materials. Or for the transport halfway round the world to sell at high prices into the US or EU markets.

Apple (and anybody else) can claim what they want about reducing emissions in their supply chain, but the only zero emissions smartphone is no smartphone. Even in the EU this still applies: Jaguar Land Rover make a big thing about their low emissions supply chain, but thinking about what they make, and what they make it with, and what and how it is used, is any Land Rover a low emissions vehicle? And would it make any difference if it were an electric Land Rover? Not in my book.

Now, as many will know I'm not signed on to the various globalwarmistpaedoterrorist agendas, so I'm relaxed about buying devices and the emissions that generates. But those who are convinced of the climate change argument really need to go back to hair shirts, crofting, and early death. A few token gestures doesn't decarbonise either an iPhone or a Range Rover. Whilst the British government are so convinced of the need to save me from climate change that they want to exile all of our remaining manufacturing base, eventually they'll find that you can't import everything and export nothing (other than a few token financial services, often supported by a web of offshored support).

So the choice remains: Hair shirts and hope the AGW goes away, or a modified form of BAU and a side order of deal with it if it happens.