Friday, February 04, 2005

Enviroman on Transport

Enviroman says: "Take public transport."

Why?

1. Private vehicles are a major contributor to carbon dioxide and global warming.
2. Single occupancy vehicles (tiny man in a huge chunk of metal) doesn't make sense.
3. Public transport is a much more efficient utilization of the world's resources, especially the fast depleting fossile fuel.
4. Imagine what is going to happen to the environment and world resources when private car ownership in China catches up with the US.
5. Traffic jams
6. One get to be chauffeured around
7. One get to enjoy the scenery along the journey, maybe even catch up on a bit of work.
8. No need to go round and round looking for scarce parking space.
9. One get to enjoy leisurely window shopping in town without worrying about parking charges
10. Get one's daily dose of much needed exercise while strolling to and from the bus stops.
11. Toll charges then become the headache of the public transport operators.

I am sure you can think of many other very good reasons. Please add them in the comments.

Enviroman practices what he preach. He stroll from the home to the bus stop and from the bus stop to place of work almost everyday. And just a few days ago, he took the LRT (light rail transit) to the city and thoroughly enjoyed it.



5 comments:

Enviroman said...

Simon Oosterman said: "The purpose of the protest was to draw attention to the issue of transport emissions" when he was charged in an Auckland, New Zealand court with indecent exposure.

Outside court, Mr Oosterman said public nudity differed from indecent exposure. "There has to be distinction between people flashing young girls and public nudity, which is benign."

Why was Simon Oosterman, an environmental activist charged in court? He was arrested during a naked bike ride which he organised to protest against society's dependence on the car. Wow!!! Man minus clothes minus car!!! Can't get any more environmentally friendly than that!!

Enviroman said...

Hi Bob,

Hope you are still around. Regarding statistics, wondering if something like this may satisfy you. Statistics below are taken from Manitoba Energy, Science and Technology http://www.gov.mb.ca/est/climatechange/ghg/
based upon federal government statistics for Manitoba's Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions for 1999.

In 1999, energy use contributed 61.3% to Manitoba Green House Gas Emission, out of which Vehicle Transportation contributed 31.6% or 6600000 tonnes CO2 equivalent.

How much of that is contributed by private vehicles is not stated, but one could estimate from the statement taht nearly 80% of Manitobans rely on automobiles to get to work.

http://www.gov.mb.ca/est/climatechange/ghg/transp.html

"road transportation is the single largest source of GHG emissions in Manitoba"
#

nearly 80% of Manitobans rely on automobiles to get to work

Enviroman said...

Not exactly the latest news, but an astronaut's view from space of the state of our environment and his comments:

Commander Frank Culbertson, a crew of the ISS (International Space Station) - told the Radio 4 Today programme he and fellow astronauts had witnessed signs of climatic change.

"Since my first flight in 1990 and this flight, I have seen changes in what comes out of some of the rivers, in land usage. We see areas of the world that are being burned to clear land, so we are losing lots of trees. There is smoke and dust in wider spread areas than we have seen before, particularly as areas like Africa dry up in certain regions. We have to be very careful how we treat this good Earth we live on."

The full article is at
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/1518232.stm

Enviroman said...

Robert Maxley said: "Care to cite some facts and figures to support your rather broad statements?"

Reducing GHG emissions from U.S. Transportation

Anonymous said...

Simon Oosterman, the Auckland environmentalist charged with indecent exposure, after being arrested during the Naked Bike Ride earlier this year will hear the judge's decision on his case on December 20.
He defended the charge in court in November.