Scary, scary news from the world’s scientists. Thursday, they gave their STERNEST warning yet that a
failure to cut greenhouse gas emissions will bring devastating climate
change within a few decades.
Average temperatures could increase by
as much as 6.4C by the end of the century if emissions continue to
rise, with a rise of 4C most likely, according to the final report of
an expert panel set up by the UN to study the problem. The forecast is
higher than previous estimates, because scientists have discovered that
Earth’s land and oceans are becoming less able to absorb carbon dioxide.
Read Seeing Green on the carless life.
Car-free? or Carless? We’ve been without a car in Brooklyn for over
a year now and it’s great. Can’t say that I miss having a car except on
the rare occasions we leave NYC. And, of course, no alternate side
parking hassles and no tickets. Personally, as someone who loves to
drive, the only thing I regret is that I cannot rent a stick-shift as I
hate automatics…
But a truly car-free city is something else (Venice, of course) and
may never come to pass in NYC. Cities like London are implementing
stronger and stronger measures against the private automobile, while
Bloomberg waffles on congestion pricing, which could greatly alleviate traffic in Manhattan. That study indicating that half of the traffic in Manhattan is generated by Manhattanites
is also fascinating, showing that for even with our great transit
system (well, almost great,) people still use the car when alternatives
are available. Time for a stick; carrots don’t work.Car Free in America: The Alternative is Rail, Buses, Bikes and Just Plain Walking, an article by Jim Motavalli, makes some points:
There seems to be some kind of cognitive disconnect at the MTA – ridership is up, so we’ll run fewer, more crowded trains??? Also – the subway system is incredibly unfriendly for the mobility impaired, including those who can walk but can’t do stairs. If there were serious efforts to fix these things, instead of just talking about banning cars, it would be more helpful. As it is, I drive into Manhattan because of the lack of escalators/elevators at subway stations.