Ohrn Words:
I’ve lost my mind. This must be true, because I’m convinced that these things have really happened. It’s a scary thing.
First the Vancouver Sun endorses the bike and ped-friendly changes to the Burrard Bridge.
Now the Globe and Mail devotes an editorial to climate change and the elimination of fossil fuel use coming out of the G7 meeting.
G&M editorial: “But it’s the “decarbonization” that is eye-catching. It is supremely ambitious, but also somewhat obvious.”
They also recommend taxing carbon, pointing to BC’s success, and decry PM Harper’s reluctance to take action and lead on climate change.
I’ll be starting reality therapy tomorrow, probably by reading the latest pro-oil-tanker motions by Councilor Affleck and the NPA, along with the NPA rank-and-file’s comments on his mildly pro-bike-parking proposal.
New vehicle sales across the country continue to impress. This April, British Columbia saw a rise of 9.8% over April 2014 – well above the national average of 5.8%. While, Ontario continues to do well with a rise of 12% over last April, PEI did exceptionally well with an increase of 18.2%.
Internationally: With 2015 off to a good start, IHS Automotive, part of IHS Inc. (NYSE: IHS), forecasts global automotive sales for 2015 to reach 88.6 million, an increase of 2.4 percent over 2014,
Bicycles still only account for around 1% of trips in North America, so there is room for growth.
This means nothing. New car sales do not mean more people are driving it just means a portion of the population are replacing their older vehicles.
I would add that the residual effects of the 2008-09 recession caused many people to hang on to their older cars longer, then bought new in greater numbers. The real analysis should pertain to #vehicles per #people.
Meanwhile vehicle km driven continue to decline on average in North America.
I think mainstream news media had to change since it was losing credibility with some of it’s headlines that were so out of touch with reality.
One more for your therapy session, Ken:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/oil-industry-pushing-for-carbon-tax-in-alberta-1.3083832
Question for those who’ve been around longer than me: does it feel like we’re approaching a tipping point? It does to me, but I don’t know if I have enough context or experience.
I agree that a tipping point is approaching, if not actually here. The steady drumbeat of opinion, fact and call to action from all levels of society worldwide is getting louder all the time.
Thanks. I’m slowly allowing myself to get excited. But there’s always a George Costanza in the back of my mind with a pessimistic outlook.
Let’s hope George is sleeping under his desk longer than usual.
I think in a strange way alot of this has been occuring recently due to Tesla. Not the fact that they are developing a electric car but the battery technology they own is a game changer. It doesn’t take much to figure out that pulling oil out of the ground is getting more and more expensive versus new solar and battery tech that’s getting cheaper and cheaper. Corporations don’t give a crap about the environment they care about money
Right. They’re not in the business of destroying the planet, they’re in the business to make money. They don’t care how it happens.
Wait until they discover all the toxic & rare earth metals in batteries dumped by the millions .. not as clean as advertised.
The “green” myth is just that: a myth. A few articles. There are many many more !
http://theenergycollective.com/nnadir/221226/green-electric-car-actually-green-external-cost-lithium-batteries
http://www.hybridcars.com/battery-toxicity/
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/sep/26/rare-earth-metals-technology-boom
http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/rare-earth-mining-china-social-environmental-costs
http://e360.yale.edu/feature/boom_in_mining_rare_earths_poses_mounting_toxic_risks/2614/