More boomerang than catapult, these keep dropping into my inbox but are unlikely to do so now they've blocked access: last thing a consultant wants is engagement, as you can't bill it.
This one is interesting though as it touches on a recent post, but firstly I'd not worry about a tipping point for ~ as the latest round of COP was demonstrating before it caught fire ~ it's more about continuous and accelerated decline.
For the UK however it brings us full circle, as the Industrial Revolution came about because of the cost of coal for Londoners. Then a religious 'quaker' in the Northeast of England decided that if they built a steam-hauled railway able to move coal to the nearest port more cheaply, then they'd all benefit and not least the port.
For moving goods thence to London by coastal trampers was by far the easier part, as indeed was true of shipping cotton across the Atlantic and then having it sit for weeks in Liverpool prior onward shipment to Manchester... which isn't by the sea unlike the one in the USA.
Transport in the UK, whether road or rail, is practically the worst in Europe which is ironic given both locomotives and tarmac were pioneered here. But that's progress for you ~ it pops up where you least expect it and eventually moves elsewhere.
It's lovely that politicians keep telling is we're on the cusp of a revival, and paying consultants to produce glossy brochures telling us why; but to my mind a reversion to coastal shipping smacks of desperation as we look at what others are able to do with both trains and automobiles.
The one positive from all of this is that it shows someone reads these posts beside me.
For as Warhol said: 'If people hate what you do, keep doing it'.
Ed. Unless you're hoping for a government grant.
