The Age of Oil at Sea Is Dying, With or Without Trump

It took months of diplomatic entreaties, cajoling and threats for the administration of President Donald Trump to get the world to delay a global price on shipping emissions. His rearguard action to prop up the age of oil on the high seas is doomed to fail, however.

That’s because the decision-making that really matters isn’t at the International Maritime Organization’s headquarters in London, where a 57-49 majority last week agreed to defer for 12 months a vote on a penalty of as much as $380 per metric ton of carbon dioxide. Instead, it’s happening in dozens of shipyards and ports around the world.