Global Warming and the Automobiles Outside Your Window
"It's going to be hard to connect the dots."
—Al Gore
"We have met the enemy…and he is us."
—Walt Kelly, Pogo
Inspired by "An Inconvenient Truth," Al Gore's excellent movie on global warming, People Power members are hitting the sidewalks and the meeting rooms to help people "connect the dots" between global warming and our addiction to automobiles.
Passenger cars and light-duty trucks are the single largest per capita producer of greenhouse gases, representing some 40% of emissions in the state of California.1 This statistic doesn't take into account the energy needed by refineries to produce fuel for cars. Reducing automobile use and dependence on fossil fuels is the most important thing that individuals can do to reduce global warming.
The Dots
Dot #1: We drive a lot when we don't have to. One third of all trips are under five miles and two-thirds are under three miles.2 This is a very practical scale for biking or walking, especially if we can restore human-friendly spaces for transportation. Start walking and riding for short trips. Consider taking the bus for longer ones.
Dot #2: The RTC's number one transportation priority is currently to widen Highway 1. Widening Highway 1 will increase the number of vehicle miles traveled in this county on the highway and on surface streets. (Every car on the highway eventually ends up on a surface street.) Having a wider highway in a county that is concerned about global warming is an absurd contradiction. Talk to everyone you know. Take them to "An Inconvenient Truth" if they haven't seen it already. Tell them that caring about the global climate means not making our emission problem worse by widening Highway 1.
Dot #3: People need to feel safe and supported in not driving. This means changing our infrastructure to encourage people to walk, ride, and take the bus or train. A bike trail and train through all of our county's urban spaces is a good place to start.
A Few Dots That Don't Really Connect
Hybrid Cars: While higher mileage standards for cars are clearly a good thing, fuel efficiency has gone up before without a net reduction in emissions, due to the fact people ended up driving their new cars more than they had before. The danger of the "fuel efficiency" solution is that it tends to simply enable an oil addicted population to drive more miles at the same price. A real solution to global warming must involve reducing our societal dependence on the automobile, not simply improving MPG.
Biodiesel: Biodiesel produces just as much CO2 as burning regular gasoline. It does allow us to salvage some of the huge amount of caloric energy wasted as part of our food economy, but the more wide-scale and commercial biodiesel production gets, the less it plays that role. The recycler whose car is fueled with used cooking oil from the Saturn Café is certainly helping to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. But biodiesel made from corn that is grown and transported using fossil fuel provides only a marginal benefit. As with hybrids, biodiesel is a smart technology, especially in the right context, but will not have the permanent and far-reaching effects of simply walking to the store.
How You Can Help
Work with our new campaign, Local Solutions to Global Problems to:
- Pass out flyers to people after a screening of "An Inconvenient Truth." It's a great time to get peoples' attention and offer concrete actions they can take.
- Organize a talk for a community group that you belong to. Local climatologist Peter Weiss and representatives of People Power have developed an engaging and informative presentation that can be arranged for schools, businesses, places of worship, or local community groups. Call Micah at 425-0665 for more info.
- Talk to friends, family, and people at work about global warming and what we can do locally to stop it. Offer to ride or walk with someone who is reluctant to do so on their own.
- Educate people about the reality of peak oil production by working on getting a resolution passed in Santa Cruz and other nearby cities (see Local Solutions article).
…and donate to People Power so that we can keep organizing, educating and creating local solutions is always valued.
To learn more or get involved, call 425-0665 or email Micah at micah@peoplepowersc.org.
NOTES
- California AB 1493, Sec 1. newrules.org/environment/climateca.html
- City of Santa Cruz Master Transportation Study, U.S. Census