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China: rebirth of the bicycle?
Original: “Bike or car? Think twice”
Song Mo and Wen Chihua, Shanghai Daily
…Their prominent picture story [of a wedding on bicycles] appeared to mark something more significant than a wedding announcement: the beginnings of a mini-backlash against the motor vehicle in the Beijing print and online media. Other environmentally-friendly events have been widely publicized, such as the “Driving One Less Day a Month for a Blue Sky in Beijing” activity held on the World Environment Day, June 5.
Recognizing that alongside Mexico City, Beijing shares the dubious distinction of being the world’s most polluted capital, more than 200,000 Beijing drivers pledged to use public transport, ride a bike or walk to work on that day.
“It tells us that many people still reserve a special place for the bicycle in their heart, regardless of there being so many cars on the road,” says Wang Yan, a civil servant from the Shenzhen Intellectual Property Bureau, who used to work in Beijing for 10 years and go to work by bike every day. “Still, I ride a bike to work almost every day, although I now own a car. I only drive to the suburbs for the weekend.”
The Chinese mainland has about 500 million bicycles, according to the Beijing-based China Bicycle Association.
“It’s time for us to rethink or rediscover what the bicycle can bring us,” says Wang Fenghe, the association president.
Sooner rather than later, “government and people alike, including those car owners, will realize how convenient, healthy and environmentally-friendly riding a bicycle is,” says Wang Yan.
“It’s often said that Americans were brought up on the rear seats of cars. It’s no exaggeration to say we Chinese were brought up on the rear seats of bicycles,” says Shen Zhong, an accountant with a soap opera producer in Beijing.
More important, the 52-year-old says, “the bicycle has stored your bitter-sweet memories.”
(15 Jan 2007)
End of the road for the US gas guzzler
Andrew Clark, Guardian
…Concerned at the price of fuel, American car buyers are switching to smaller vehicles. At the Detroit show, a screen opposite the convention centre showed promotions for Smart cars. Inside, the Mini stand attracted crowds drawn by a DJ pumping out dance tracks.
Rapid acceleration, powerful engines and go-faster stripes are out, leaving the Hummer display thinly populated. Ideas to save money on petrol are in – and the sudden shift towards austerity has got the industry thinking hard about alternative energy.
Stephen Polk of the auto research firm RL Polk says: “The shock we’ve seen with fuel prices has changed American perceptions of what they want to be driving.”
(15 Jan 2007)
Off the rails: Aviation’s role in climate change is causing a storm.
Editorial, Nature
When a politician is accused of being “foolish”, “ill-informed” and not having “a clue what he’s talking about”, you might expect the complaints to be legitimate. But such venomous language could also betray a different explanation: the politician may have rattled someone’s cage. So it was last week, when aviation boss Michael O’Leary reacted furiously to comments made by Ian Pearson, the British government’s hitherto low-key environment minister.
Pearson had accused Ryanair, the Irish budget airline that O’Leary runs, of doing too little to tackle climate change, memorably branding the airline “the irresponsible face of capitalism”.
…the growth in aviation emissions, if left unchecked, is liable to wreck attempts to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. In Britain, for example, airlines’ emissions are growing by around 7% each year, even as the government prepares to set in law a commitment to cut national emissions to 60% below 1990 levels by 2050. According to the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, the rest of the economy would have to move to zero emissions in order to sustain aviation growth and meet the target.
It is clear that something will have to give. If real cuts are to be made in carbon emissions, aviation growth will certainly have to level off. The number of trips may even need to be cut. These are truths that the airline industry does not want to hear.
(14 Jan 2007)
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Public Transportation Saves $6,200 Per Household, 1.4 Billion Gallons of Gasoline
American Public Transportation Association press release
oday, the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) released a groundbreaking new study finding that public transportation use saves 1.4 billion gallons of gasoline every year, and can reduce household expenses by $6,200 – more than the average household pays for food in a year.
“This should be a wake-up call as Congress and the President discuss how America can move towards energy independence,” said APTA President William W. Millar. “Public transportation provides Americans with greater freedom, access, opportunity and choice. Ridership is up over 25 percent since 1995, because Americans knew instinctively that it saves money and gasoline. Now we know exactly how much.”
(9 Jan 2007)
