Sometimes the Path is Perlious…
New Hybrid Technology Flexes Its HE-Manpower
Relying on manpower instead of a motor (Carectomy’s preferred method) means lower emissions. New hybrid technology is making promising progress toward more practical, eco-friendly transportation that uses human exertion and electricity instead of fuel. The HE (Human Electric) Hybrid Vehicle hasn’t yet hit dealerships, though the concept “car” offers a glimpse of the wheels we’ll be driving in coming years.
High-Speed Rail Coming to America
High-speed rail is finally coming to America. However it’s Argentina and not the United States that will be the first Amercian country to build a high-speed rail system and join the modern age of transportation.
The popularity of high-speed passenger rails is picking up in cities throughout the world. Latin America, Europe, and China have big plans to construct or expand such rail systems in the near future.
EPA Protects Cars, Not the Planet
Senator Barbara Boxer, chair of the U.S. Senate’s Committee on the Environment and Public works, released further evidence Wednesday against top EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson. Ignoring the unanimous sentiments of his staff, Johnson undermined his colleagues—and the law—to stop tailpipe emissions laws from passing in at least 16 states, including California. The laws aimed to lower greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks by a third.
Highway to Hell: Pray for Us, Pedestrian Sinners
As if there was any question that our culture worships cars, a group of fundamentalist Christians is now exalting a long stretch of Interstate-35 as the “holy highway.” From Laredo, Texas to Duluth, Minnesota, evangelicals are blessing the blacktop and proselytizing to those they deem depraved (like gays an lesbians, for example) through what they call a “purity siege.” They drive their Hummers to gay bars and brothels to condemn “sinners” and win converts, stopping frequently at gas stations for group prayer sessions and Slim Jims.
Prairie View A&M Students March to Democracy
When Texas state republicans located the early-polling place more than seven miles from Prairie View A&M University, it appeared to be dirty politics as usual. However, the republican plan clearly touched a nerve and backfired. Led by the university’s famous Marching Storm band, hundreds of students made the pilgrimage to the polls by foot and shut down a Texas highway in the process.
“Green Freedom” Keeps Us Trapped in Car Culture
Two scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory have a plan to help drivers stay on the road, and with plenty of fuel in their tanks. The project is dressed in a dubious green veil: scientists claim they can turn greenhouse gases back into gasoline, but not without causing further environmental damage. Keeping drivers behind the wheel would also perpetuate the status quo—and that ain’t pretty.
Roads Spur More Deforestation and Disease
“Creating a road just ruins it,” biostatistician Bill Pan told NPR’s Joanne Silberman in a recent story about the Amazon Rain forest. Scientists trekked through the Amazon in Peru, researching how the creation of roads through the pristine forest not only promotes deforestation, but increases the rate of infectious disease, particularly malaria.
The Association for Public Transportation (APT) has just released the latest edition of their Car-Free in Boston book. The book provides details on how to navigate the city and surrounding areas by T (subway), Amtrak, bus, ferry, foot, and bicycle.
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