[Robert Urbanek]

“Solitude and solace are two of the experiences we have come to expect from our national parks. But you won’t fine either while jockeying for Instagram photos on the rim of the Grand, crushing into shuttle buses at Zion as you would into a rush-hour train in Manhattan, or pitching your tent in a packed campground in Yosemite, where by nightfall the yapping of your fellow citizens degenerates into a cacophony of children crying, couples bickering, old men snoring, and gadgets pinging.” — Christopher Ketcham, The Business of Scenery, Harper’s, April 2021

To which I might add the noise of others heard through thin-walled motel rooms.

The PBS tourist industry whores Rick Steves and Samantha Brown seldom or never mention the fossil fuel consumption of the airlines or the attendant carbon footprint of vehicles used to ferry tourists amongst various destinations.

“Cruise ships generate significant quantities of wastes that the industry disposes of with surprisingly little regulation.” — Center for Sustainable System, University of Michigan

And, of course, the pandemic has shown us that cruise ships are a petri dish for viruses; not just the coronavirus, but also the diarrhea and vomiting-inducing norovirus.

[libertasbella]

Why do I get the feeling that a tourism ban predicated on pollution reduction and disease control won't apply to people who can afford private jets and private islands?

[late]

Why do I get the feeling that a tourism ban predicated on pollution reduction and disease control won't apply to people who can afford private jets and private islands?

"If you want to change behavior, change the price."

What we need is a incremental Carbon Tax. It would add maybe a quarter a year to the price of gas (and an equivalent amount based on carbon emissions for all other fuels).

This is depressingly simple, until we get a Carbon Tax, we won't have actually started.