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The horse: Is this the secret weapon to beat global warming?
Geoffrey Lean, The Independent
The French are mounting a transport revolution led by the humble horse, using it in more than 70 towns to pull schoolbuses and to collect refuse
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They may previously have appreciated it more for its culinary value, but the French are discovering a new green form of transport: the humble horse.
More than 70 French towns have already gone back to the future by introducing horse-drawn carriages to replace petrol- and diesel-powered vehicles for local tasks such as collecting rubbish, street-cleaning and taking children to school. And at least 30 more are set to join the revolution next year.
The revival of horse-power is being pushed by the French National Stud – that’s not David Ginola or even President Nicolas Sarkozy, but an organisation set up four centuries ago by “the Sun King”, Louis XIV, to supply horses for his military campaigns.
Last week, it told France’s annual conference of mayors that gee-gees were “a serious alternative” to the gas-guzzler as municipalities seek to cut their emissions of carbon dioxide, the main cause of global warming.
(25 November 2007)
Ford Chairman Says New Fuels Are Developing Too Slowly
Micheline Maynard, New York Times
The chairman of Ford Motor, William Clay Ford Jr., expressed frustration Tuesday night at the slow pace of alternative fuel development, saying industry leaders expected better progress by now.
In a lecture at the School of Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Michigan, Mr. Ford also said he was concerned about congestion in cities around the world, saying it could be as big a problem as pollution.
…During his speech, Mr. Ford cited predictions that the world’s automotive fleet, now about 880 million vehicles, would grow to 2 billion by midcentury.
”One of the things we absolutely know as we move forward is that congestion is going to be as big a problem as pollution,” Mr. Ford said.
Pointing to efforts under way in India and South Africa to encourage consumers to use bicycles, mopeds and public transportation instead of automobiles, Mr. Ford said, ”The idea of individual car ownership as we know it today will change, too.”
Ford wants ”to be part of that — not to be frightened by it, but to participate in it,” he said.
(14 November 2007)
Bicycle Respect (Bicycle Neglect #13)
Alan Durning, Sightline
Cascadia is, as Washington State legislator Dick Nelson used to say, a “motorhead democracy”-a place where licensed drivers substantially outnumber registered voters and where car-head dominates transportation thought and debate.
No matter how much good Bicycle Respect would do for our health, communities, economy, and natural heritage, it won’t fly in on fairy wings. Bicycle Respect is a political agenda: new traffic laws and enforcement, new budget allocations, and new street designs.
So winning Bicycle Respect requires political power. When many elected leaders begin to see championing the bicycle as a path to higher office, as Portland City Commissioner Sam Adams does, we will be well on our way. When elected officials fear for their seats if they ignore the needs of the bicycle, we will have arrived.
Fortunately, the political movement for cycling has never been stronger.
…What you can do.
1. Quit the AAA/CAA. Most people who belong to AAA/CAA do it for the cheap towing and road-side assistance service. (That’s why I belonged for two years in the early 1990s.) They probably do not even realize that AAA/CAA chapters spend part of each membership fee lobbying and advocating for driving and cars. The same services that AAA/CAA provides, including insurance, roadside assistance, and travel planning are also available from the Better World Club, which has a strong commitment to sustainability.
2. Join a cycling advocacy group.
(21 November 2007)
The big debate: Must we give up our cars?
CNN
CO2 emissions and pollution are just two of the accusatory fingers pointed at the world’s favorite form of transport: the car.
Should we be looking at a car-free future? Send us your thoughts and comments, and we’ll publish the best ones here.
While car ownership rises steadily in Europe and America, it’s set to soar elsewhere.
In China last year, there were 22 million privately owned cars. That figure is set to climb to 55 million by 2010, says China’s National Development and Reform Commission, and could explode to 140 million by 2020. Environmental campaigners say the world’s atmosphere can’t take that kind of CO2 increase, which comes both from more cars on the roads and from manufacturing processes.
Pollution is also taking its toll. Officials in Beijing were forced to take 1.3 million cars off the capital’s streets in August this year, in an attempt to improve air quality.
With global warming rising on the planet’s agenda, peak oil approaching and concern mounting about atmospheric levels of greenhouse gases, we ask: is it time we shut the door on the age of the automobile and gave our four-wheeled friend the boot?
(5 November 2007)
Contributor CP comments:
A mainstream media outlet (CNN) mentioning peak oil without putting it in quotes or following it with “theory”.
BA:
It seems incredible to me that CNN even broaches the subject of a car-less future. Isn’t saying this against the law?
