Add to the list of #autosprawl externalities: $36.9B for speeding tickets

Speeding Ticket Facts: "The average raise in insurance costs for one speeding ticket over the course of 3 years is $900.00.

Multiply 900 by 41,000,000 and you get $36,900,000,000 (36.9 BILLION dollars) in extra insurance money the insurance industry makes in a single year just from speeding tickets."

'via Blog this'

A clear presentation of the end of fossil-fuel

http://www.postcarbon.org/

http://cluborlov.blogspot.com

http://energybulletin.net

http://culturechange.org

http://transitionculture.org

http://theoildrum.com

Mixed messages on public #transit reflect split in 1%

There is no future for the car culture. It will die. Either by the hand of man or nature. A part of the 1% recognizes this and they are trying to save capitalism from the excesses of autosprawl.

They draw their support from businesses that recognize the competitive disadvantage of traffic congestion and the high costs of parking, roads, collisions, etc.

Some places are expanding transit, some are cutting. This battle is more important than bank leveraging and will continue after financial collapse. It is a battle not for capitalism, but for the biosphere.

Help nurture the split. Speak up for free public transit.

Tea Party acts "crazy" to cover up #oil agenda

Confessions of a Tea Party Casualty | Mother Jones: "As an example of both the GOP pandering to right-wing voters and conservative talk show hosts undercutting sensible policymaking, Inglis points to climate change. Fossil fuels, he notes, get a free ride because they're "negative externalities"—that is, pollution and the effects of climate change—"are not recognized" in the market. Sitting in front of a wall-sized poster touting clean technology centers in South Carolina, Inglis says that conservatives "should be the ones screaming. This is a conservative concept: accountability. This is biblical law: you cannot do on your property what harms your neighbor's property." Which is why he supports placing a price on carbon—and forcing polluters to cover it."

Your social security turned over to #oil industry

photo credit

Washington politicians think the main-stream media can sell anything to the U.S. public. If gasoline prices go up, what do you think is the effect of taking $100B of social security money, via a payroll tax cut, and handing it to gasoline buyers? Is that supposed to have a downward pressure on prices? If so, then we need to rewrite the laws of economics. No, it is a transfer from money from your retirement to the oil companies.

Rising Gas Prices Give G.O.P. Issue to Attack Obama - NYTimes.com: "“The payroll tax cut provides some cushion for families in case they see their costs go up, possibly because of gasoline prices or for other reasons over the course of the year,” Mr. Krueger said."
...Mr. Obama has also begun once again to express his personal concern for the impact of gas prices on pocketbooks, as he did last week while pressing Congress to extend the tax cut, which is about $40 per paycheck for a family making $50,000 a year.
“If we start seeing significant increases in gas prices, losing that $40 could not come at a worse time,” the president said Tuesday.

Instead why not invest $100B in fare-free public transit. Imagine the impact! It would connect many thousands of job-seekers with small business, relieve parking problems, reduce collisions, reduce traffic congestion, reduce demand for gasoline, reduce medical costs, reduce the need for energy war, reduce road damage, etc. In short, provide immediate and long term benefits.

Tallinn referendum on free #transit

The Tallinn City Council has decided that riding buses, trams and trolleys will be free of charge on March 24 and 25 - the two last days of the referendum on introducing free public transport for all city residents.

Read more...
http://news.err.ee/society/01adb177-f0bd-40bb-aa89-5bef1175641a

Oil price killing economy so congress tries to kill public #transit

Oil Rise Imperils Budding Recovery - WSJ.com: "Rising oil prices are emerging once again as a threat to the U.S. economic recovery just as it appears to be gaining momentum."

Oil and Coal driving Cadillac, collecting welfare

Unearthing the True Cost of Fossil Fuels : TreeHugger: "Industry gets tax breaks, subsidies, military support in volatile regions, the right to use our air and water like a sewer, and assurance that the government will clean up its environmental messes. Politicians get campaign contributions, a steady flow of dirty energy, and a talking point to brandish about how they kept gas affordable."

'via Blog this'

Brazil: mass movement for free public #transit

Links dos eventos das cidades participantes:

Guarulhos - SP: http://www.facebook.com/events/199441550153057/

Rio de Janeiro - RJ: https://www.facebook.com/events/143547809097892/

Grande Vitória - ES: https://www.facebook.com/events/220477351378453/

Belo Horizonte - MG: https://www.facebook.com/events/173058532803106/

Florianópolis - SC:http://www.facebook.com/events/182176998553815/

Recife - PE:http://www.facebook.com/events/183262485114084/

São Carlos - SP: http://www.facebook.com/events/230752990345963/?context=create

Joinville - SC: http://www.facebook.com/events/264953103577430/?notif_t=event_invite

Protest against increase of passages blocks Conception Tunnel Credit: Star Cristiano 
http://www.correiodopovo.com.br/Noticias/?Noticia=389832

1% must have totalitarianism to protect fossil fuel lines

Times Of Nigeria: "Nigeria’s main oil militants operating in Niger Delta region, Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) today said its fighters have sabotaged an oil pipeline that belongs to Italian oil company, Agip."

'via Blog this'

World lacks enough food, fuel as population soars-UN - AlertNet

World lacks enough food, fuel as population soars-UN - AlertNet: "Efforts towards sustainable development are neither fast enough nor deep enough, as well as suffering from a lack of political will, the United Nations' high-level panel on global sustainability said.

"The current global development model is unsustainable. To achieve sustainability, a transformation of the global economy is required," the report said."

'via Blog this'

Americans want public #transit. "just get it done!"

One thousand Paul Krugmans cannot save capitalism from the 1%

Quantitative easing is creating money to lend to big banks for free, so they can lend at high rates and increase their capital stock. Why? Not to stimulate real production, but to increase their competitive edge against Russia's fossil-fuel power, and China's economic power.

Though economists all know that only government investment in physical and social infrastructure can extend the life of capitalism, the 1% easily mobilizes austerians to keep those "growth" economists at bay. We never are able to get to the real debate that should be happening. That is, which infrastructure is the right investment. So the growth economists [like Krugman] can only point to increased unspecified government spending.

If government spending is used to increase roads and cars, collapse will just continue at a faster pace.