Stop the #Tarsands

Tar Sands Action/ Josh Fox from JFOX on Vimeo.

http://www.tarsandsaction.org/

Free Transit - Red states are lovin' it

Germanna students, employees now can get free FRED rides - Transportation: "Germanna Community College has joined forces with FREDericksburg Regional Transit to provide free rides on any regular route for its students and employees."

How does the private auto hate us? Let us count the ways...

20 million deaths from road accidents in 15 years, for example; that’s more than were killed in World War One. And don’t forget the 200 million people seriously injured. The majority of them our children and youngsters. It is a truly, truly horrific mass slaughter. And entirely avoidable.

Or our lost sense of community; the constant noise and the danger from cars stops kids playing and parents chatting. Cars physically prevent communication between people. They are by far the most conspicuous symbol of wealth and so are deeply divisive.

... read more at http://www.mansgreatestmistake.com/the-true-cost-of-cars/are-cars-really-our-greatest-mistake

Persuading people to ride bikes?

Persuading people to ride bicycles or be pedestrians without addressing the private auto is like asking people to swim in the ocean with sharks. Some things are not compatible. Do we want more cyclist memorials? More cases like Raquel Nelson?

Bicycles. Really?

#movingplanet has a great video about what is wrong with human transport. Their proposed solution? bikes, jogging, walking. Um.... not. Only fare-free buses can break the critical mass of the #autosprawl system. Is this movement serious? or is it another #phonysolution.

Green Party of Manitoba - "no down sides to fare-free bus service"

Green Policy Asks: To Make Public Transportation Fare Free! | Green Party of Manitoba: "“Everyone who chooses to ride the buses will immediately find more money in their pockets to spend in the local economy, and at the same time they will be doing their part to lower our impact on this planet.” said Beddome.
“Even those that choose to continue driving & bicycling will benefit through smoother commutes and less stress from traffic congestion,” he said.
“Literally everyone wins! There are just no discernible down sides to a Fare Free Bus service in Winnipeg, Brandon, or any other Manitoba community for that matter,' added Beddome."

Capitalism is a trickle-up system

Meet the Global Financial Elites Controlling $46 Trillion In Wealth | | AlterNet: "In total, US millionaire households have at least $45.9 trillion in wealth, the majority of this wealth is held within the upper one-tenth of one percent of the population."

Oil industry tightens its grip on US government

Super Congress stacked with climate zombies | Grist: "Even with the three House Democrats left to be named, seven of the 12-member committee are known to be climate zombies. Every Republican on the so-called Super Congress, as well as Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), have voted to reverse the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) work to limit greenhouse-gas pollution. Most of the Republicans named to the committee are proud torchbearers of global warming denial:"

Subsidized private auto system crushes poor people

Mass Transit Is Good For Poor People | ThinkProgress: "According to the report, the average cost of owning a car is just shy of $9,500. That may not sound like much until you realize the federal poverty level is $22,350 for a family of four. One-third of low-income African-American households do not have access to an automobile. That figure is 25 percent among low-income Latino families and 12.1 percent for whites. Racial minorities are four times more likely than whites to use public transit to get to work.
Yet the federal government allocates 80 percent of its transportation funding to highways."

How much lead is needed for the electric car?

Wind + Solar = A Cubic Mile of Lead - Death by Car: "How much lead would it take to build enough lead-acid batteries to enable construction of an all-wind-and-solar electrical grid to power the present energy use of the United States?"