Thanks for putting that in words Chilco, I'm in full agreement. Evolution won't cut it, only Revolution can change things fast enough. If people have a vote on these things, it'll never happen.
In that list of cities also bringing in low/zero emission zones, did you notice the absence of Southampton? An appallingly backward city council these days, regarding urban pollution generation and how to counter it. And they are so proud of the relatively puny measures they are taking. I know because I follow SCC on Twitter and there is much talk but little action. Here's a taste from a year ago: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-46961926
Bloody shame. Never mind charging banning is best. Not just city centers, particularly around schools at arrival and leave times. Anyone sitting in a stationary car engine running should be fined and given points.
What alternatives are there ? I am actually in agreement TSS . Why on earth does SCC not have a park and ride scheme at both ends of the City ? Nursling and Hedge end spring to mind . What are the alternatives for the Freight companies taking containers into and out of the Port ? It's alright proposing bans etc , but there HAVE to be alternatives provided . It's embarrassing !
Yes, I see what you mean, but during SCC's public consultation period a year or so back there were a stack of pretty good alternatives. Most of which SCC rejected as a bit too progressive. For example, they chose so-called clean diesel buses over electric, and no charge for dirty vehicles to enter the city centre. That's not progress to a cleaner city. Also ABP have proposals to provide clean shore power for docked ships. But where's the timescale? Yes, I like the park and ride idea. It would need a lot of tweaking, like e-buses, etc. The effectiveness would be in the details.
Don’t get me started about Park and Ride schemes! Bath has 4 of them, operated for profit by First Bus. Parking is free, but everyone pays for the bus ride. On the face of it this is a good thing, but the city centre is still choked with traffic and all the central car parks are always rammed full. Bath has recently chosen not to operate a ban on private cars in the city centre. From the first day of the first P&R scheme I asked why car-sharing wasn’t being encouraged, which could have been done very easily by charging for parking and allowing free travel on the buses. The answer was obvious, no profit for First Bus, which of course isn’t a charity but part of a multinational money-making enterprise. Taking the question wider, why do people have to drive on congested roads to the outskirts of Bath to get on a P&R bus? Why aren’t there P&R car parks in Radstock, Midsomer Norton, Keynsham and Paulton, where people could drive a shorter distance from their homes to pick up a bus into Bath? The only answer to all this is to nationalise all public transport, or at least give local authorities the funding to subsidise buses, trams and trains so that people find it easier and cheaper to ride than to drive. The benefits would be enormous, not just in terms of cutting pollution but in safer streets and roads, less money spent on rescuing and saving lives ruined by road accidents. None of this will happen of course, because of capitalism.
Yes, this is why I alluded to park & ride being potentially beneficial, but the effectiveness is in the detail [planning]. If you just end up ramming the city centre with more traffic, then that ain't working. You injure/kill more people quickly and directly [accidents] or indirectly and slowly [pollution].
It’s depressing, definitely, and I don’t disagree. I’m hoping (ever the optimist) that things won’t be so bad, but I don’t see us getting away from capitalism - especially given the right wing government and their policies
Capitalism is the cancer that is killing our societies, it’s killing millions of people around the world, it’s killing our planet, and it’s stealing our future in the name of money making. Every aspect of the planet and its inhabitants is being monetised because of the proliferation of Neoliberalism, or Neo-liberal Capitalism. It has a voracious appetite and the only way to halt it is to starve it, stand up to it and reject it out of hand. Neoliberalism is driving the expansion of the American Empire and if we look at American society it’s self evident, as it is here on a smaller scale, that Capitalism only benefits the few at the expense of the majority. The three most wealthy people in America own more money than the poorest 50% of the population (Forbes 2017). The world’s richest 26 people own more wealth than the poorest 50% people on the whole planet (Oxfam 2018). That gap between rich and poor has since widened even further. If that doesn’t tell us that Capitalism is not only wrong, but is in fact a great evil, then we are either blind, utterly stupid, or a willing part of that system that has enslaved us. The situation is dire and looking at it globally there doesn’t seem to be much we can do to resits it. But there is. There’s a lot we can do. We can join with and support non violent activism against this immense injustice and work with people who want a better way of life, and fight for the rights of those the system uses and abuses. Grass roots movements do work but it needs people to enable it to grow. Reject the mainstream media and gutter press and support independent journalism that actually gets to the heart of the matter and tells the truth. Stop supporting big business as much as possible. Capitalism is stripping our planet of its resources and is leaving increasing devastation and pollution in its wake. Reject this mad consumerism that has gripped this country. Boycott Amazon, stop using corporations as much as possible and become as self sufficient as it's possible to be. Fight for better social services and local transport. The list of things we can do is huge and every small step makes a difference in turning the tide. Most social changes have come about because of mass movements, and when people stand up to and fight for what they believe in, the ruling elite understand they they can not win. They can not enslave and abuse all of us if we stand and work together. There has to be a fair distribution of wealth, resources have to be recognised as finite and the environment has to be our treasure because it's the only one we have. The only way that will ever happen is if we believe in it and fight for it.
Four rare mountain gorillas, including a pregnant female, have died in Uganda after being hit by lightning, a conservation group says. The three adult females and a male infant were found in Uganda's Mgahinga National Park with "gross lesions" on their bodies indicating electrocution. Of all the things on this forsaken planet that needed taking out with lightning. FFS
Here's a petition you might choose to sign. Obviously, read it through: https://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/detox_the_algorithm_loc/?cbKMunb
Mining for battery materials versus mining for fossil fuels. Big difference. 95% of modern lithium battery materials can be recycled and directly reused in replacement batteries. Fossil fuels are used once. Here's a video from the recent Fully Charged USA Live on sustainability with batteries:
Interesting article from Clean Technica on Correcting Anti-Renewable Energy Propaganda: https://cleantechnica.com/2020/02/09/correcting-anti-renewable-energy-propaganda/ It's sort of amusing to see the anti-renewable brigade revising their put-downs with every new prediction. Also there is other interesting info here.
There's a lot of stuff here, that bleeds off this BBC link, but the main theme is what would happen if the whole world went vegan. Interesting: https://www.bbc.co.uk/ideas/videos/what-would-happen-if-the-whole-world-went-vegan/p082l2r8
HS2 given the go ahead. What have ancient woodlands ever done for us anyway, lets burn the whole lot to the ground.
