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WORLD CARFREE NEWS >>>=20
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Edition no. 7 - April 2004 - English version
.............................................................
Contents:
IN BRIEF
WORLD NEWS
- RUSSIA IGNORES ENVIRONMENT IN OIL SALE QUEST
- WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND TRANSPORT MISSING THE BUS =20
- CONGRESS AND WHITE HOUSE END TABOO AGAINST TOLLS
GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
- WORLD HEALTH DAY - APRIL 7
- EARTH DAY FESTIVITIES
- MAY DAY - MAY 1
NETWORK ANNOUNCEMENTS
- TOWARDS CARFREE CITIES IV, BERLIN - JULY 19-24
- APRIL 15 DEADLINES
- CAR BUSTERS #20
__________________=20
IN BRIEF >>=20
__________________________ =20
- According to the European Commission, there are between nine and ten
million=20
vehicles each year that reach the end of their life on average 13 to 14
years after they=20
were first placed on the market. This generates between eight and nine
million tonnes=20
of "waste."
- Kia Motors, an affiliate of South Korea's top automaker Hyundai Motor,
said on=20
Tuesday that it would invest EUR700 million to build its first European
plant, in=20
Slovakia, by the end of 2006. Kia's decision is another coup for Slovakia,
where cheap=20
labor and proximity to Western Europe are making it a popular destination=
for=20
automakers. Last year, PSA Peugeot Citron chose Slovakia over Poland to
build its=20
plant. Volkswagen also has a plant in Slovakia that makes more than 200,000
cars a=20
year.
- A graduate student at the California Institute of Technology with alleged
connections=20
to a radical eco-terrorist group was indicted on nine counts of arson and
conspiracy in=20
the firebombing and vandalizing of 125 sport-utility vehicles at several
Southern=20
California auto dealerships last summer.=20
William Cottrell faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 35 years if
convicted on all=20
counts.
- Developers in Prague want to build an office and shopping complex with one=
=20
thousand underground parking spaces on an archaeologically significant site
in the=20
city's historic core. Preservationists warn that if the complex is built,
Prague could be=20
removed from the UNESCO heritage list. As Joni Mitchell sang, "they paved
paradise=20
and they put up a parking lot."
_______________=20
WORLD NEWS >>=20
__________________=20
RUSSIA IGNORES ENVIRONMENT IN OIL SALE QUEST
[Reuters, March 25]
Russia is undermining plans to protect key world marine areas from
potential tanker=20
disasters in an effort to keep its oil shipping costs down, ecology body
World Wildlife=20
Fund (WWF) said Thursday.
WWF said this was the motive behind a Russian proposal that would block
the=20
marine protection plans, to be put to a meeting in London next week of the=
=20
International Maritime Organization (IMO).
"WWF believes the proposal is driven by Russia's blatant disregard for=
the=20
environment and its desire to cheaply transport its oil, whose production
is booming,=20
through the Baltic Sea and western European=20
waters," it said.
Russian officials in Moscow were not immediately available for comment.
The protection plan - supported by the European Union, the United
States, and most=20
other countries in the IMO - is aimed at giving a special status to the
Baltic and to=20
seas around Ecuador's Galapagos Islands and Spain's Canary Islands.
It would designate them as Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas. Ships
passing through=20
would have to take special safety measures to be decided by the IMO, a=
United=20
Nations agency.
Every day hundreds of oil tankers, many in a similar condition to that
of the aging=20
Prestige which sank off the coast of Spain in 2002 and caused a major
ecological and=20
social disaster, travel along Baltic routes from Russia, the WWF said.
The Prestige disaster killed 300,000 birds, put hundreds of fishers
along the Atlantic=20
coasts of Spain and France out of work for months, and cost some US$6.25
billion in=20
clean-up and environmental costs.
WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND TRANSPORT MISSING THE BUS
[Scoop Media, March 30]
Green MP Sue Kedgley welcomed recent transport announcements that will
provide a=20
NZ$220 million [EUR118 million] boost over 10 years to the [New Zealand]
Capitals'=20
transport, but warned that years of complacency has left the Wellington
region far=20
behind Auckland in thinking about sustainable transport needs.
Ms Kedgley, the Green Associate Transport spokesperson, called for
Wellington's=20
civic leaders to work with the community to develop a sustainable transport
package=20
for Wellington so the NZ$220 million delivers real benefits.
"Our economic strength is that we are a compact, walkable city with
excellent public=20
transport connections. Yet there has been almost no new investment in
Wellington's=20
public transport infrastructure for decades."
Ms Kedgley said Wellingtonians overwhelmingly want a people-friendly
city with=20
excellent public transport. "The solution to congestion in Wellington is
not to build yet=20
another road or a bypass, but to reduce the number of cars coming into the
city by=20
luring commuters out of cars and into upgraded, high quality trains."=20
"Just last week, 1500 commuters switched to the train which resulted in
the lowest=20
level of congestion in years at Mana. Imagine how many commuters might
switch if=20
our trains were modern, state of the art and reliable," she said.
Ms Kedgley noted that there are NZ$65 million [EUR35 million] worth of
new state=20
highways projects underway in Wellington region and just under NZ$40 million=
=20
[EUR21 million] of central government funds is spent annually on road
maintenance.=20
"Wellington is not being short-changed on roading, rather it is being
short-changed=20
by civic leaders who have yet to take sustainable transport seriously. We
need a=20
widely accepted plan for investment in passenger transport, walking and
cycling," said=20
Ms Kedgley.
CONGRESS AND WHITE HOUSE END TABOO AGAINST TOLLS
[New York Times, April 4]
=20
Congress and the White House are still fighting over just how much to spend
on=20
highways, but they have resolved a 182-year-old dispute of more practical
significance=20
to most drivers, especially commuters stuck in traffic. The great taboo
against tolls=20
has ended.
Now the White House wants to relax the taboo, and on Friday the House of=
=20
Representatives went along by passing a highway bill that encourages new
express=20
toll lanes and roads. The details of the House bill must still be
reconciled with the bill=20
already passed by the Senate, but that version also encourages tolls.
The gasoline taxes that finance highways have been yielding less and
less revenue=20
because they are not indexed to inflation and because today's cars use less
gasoline=20
per mile. To bring revenues back to the inflation-adjusted levels of four
decades ago,=20
the federal and local gasoline taxes would have to be doubled - an increase
of US$.38=20
per gallon, which is not being considered.=20
Leaders in the House have proposed raising the federal gas tax, now 18
cents, by a=20
nickel, or at least indexing it to inflation, but the Bush administration
has opposed any=20
tax increase. Attempts to raise the tax at the state level have also proved
unpopular in=20
referendums.
"The public would much rather pay for new roads with tolls than with
higher taxes,"=20
said Representative Mark Kennedy, the Minnesota Republican who championed=
the=20
legislation allowing tolls on new lanes or roads. "If you put tolls on
existing lanes, my=20
guess is you're going to have a revolt. But if you give people stuck in
traffic the option=20
to pay to move into a fast-moving new lane, they're going to be happy."
The House's highway bill would cost US$275 billion, less than the
US$318-billion=20
version passed by the Senate, but still higher than the White House's
limit. President=20
Bush threatened to veto any highway bill costing more than US$256 billion.
As the=20
legislators try to negotiate a compromise, the potential extra revenue from
tolls could=20
be important.
"Most fast-growing states, like Colorado, Florida, North Carolina, Texas
and Virginia,=20
now see tolls playing a big part in meeting the need for more highway
capacity," Mr.=20
Poole said. "It's time for the feds to get on board."
[Ed. note - In a letter to Car Busters magazine, Andy Singer writes that
the US will=20
now see the "biggest wave of new road building ... since the late 1950's."]=
=20
___________________=20
GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS >>=20
__________________________________=20
- WORLD HEALTH DAY - APRIL 7
The theme for World Health Day 2004 is Road Safety. On this day around the
globe,=20
hundreds of organizations will host events to help raise awareness about
road traffic=20
injuries, their grave consequences and enormous costs to society. They will
also=20
contribute to spreading the word that such injuries can be prevented. For
more=20
information go to
http://www.who.int/world-health-day/2004/en/.
EARTH DAY FESTIVITIES
Earth Day events will take place throughout the world on April 22. Among
the events=20
planned are Codepink's National Day of Action against hummers. They are
calling on=20
people to demonstrate at Hummer Hummer or General Motors dealerships. For
more=20
information write info@???.
In Montreal, the Intersection Collective is organizing an art show under
the headline =20
Reinvent the Street. Vernissage will take place April 7 and the show will
continue until=20
April 30. For more information visit
http://www.sault-a-la-puce.ca/ci/jourdelaterre.html. =20
- MAY DAY - MAY 1=20
Activists from the Dublin Grassroots network are calling for a European day
of action=20
in Dublin on May 1, as the highlight of a weekend of action from April 30
[when a=20
critical mass will take place], to May 3. They are inviting people from all
over Europe,=20
and the world, to join them in Dublin to show their leaders that their
agenda for=20
European Union (EU) integration, driven by the wealthy and powerful, will
face=20
resistance. They will also be using the days of action to highlight local
issues and=20
campaigns which are linked to the broader problems of corporate
globalisation and=20
the EU.
The Irish government is currently holding the rotating presidency of the
EU.
________________
NETWORK ANNOUNCEMENTS >>=20
______________________________
TOWARDS CARFREE CITIES IV, BERLIN - JULY 19-24
[Register today: <
www.worldcarfree.net/conference/>]
Registration is now open for Towards Carfree Cities IV, to be held from
July 19-24 in=20
Berlin, Germany. The early registration date has been extended to April 15.
The=20
registration form, programme and all other info can be found at=20
<
www.worldcarfree.net/conference/>. The registration form contains a link
for on-line=20
credit card payment. The conference is being organised by World Carfree
Network in=20
partnership with BUND (Friends of the Earth Germany), Green City, Autofrei
Wohnen,=20
Autofrei Leben!, ITDP Europe, UMKEHR and Carfree.com.
MORE APRIL 15 DEADLINES
April 15 is also the deadline for submitting to this listserve detailed
proposals for=20
hosting Towards Carfree Cities V (somewhere, sometime in 2005). Interest was=
=20
expressed from groups in various cities, so we hope to hear from you soon. =
=20
This now important day of the month is also the deadline for bicycle
advocacy=20
groups to submit proposals to us to pass on to the anonymous funder willing
to=20
sponsor bicycle groups (see last month's bulletin). =20
For more information on either of these deadlines, contact usat=20
info@???.
CAR BUSTERS #20 SUBMISSIONS
For the next Car Busters magazine, we are going to have a "Car Free in the=
=20
Countryside" theme. We welcome any submissions on this theme and if you=
know=20
people who live in the countryside without a car, let us know, as we would
like to talk=20
to them and put a name and a face to carfree living. The deadline is April=
30.
_____________________
DISCLAIMER >>=20
_____________________________
The news is never good nor bad, always both and sometimes frustratingly
both. But=20
life continues and as Spring sets in we can walk through neighbourhood
streets and=20
admire how the cherry blossoms fall lightly on the hoods of cars. Ah, the
paradoxes=20
of urban life!
[end]
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tel: +(420) 274-810-849 - fax: +(420) 274-816-727
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________________________________________________
"La bicicletta =E8 il veicolo pi=F9 rapido nella via della delinquenza;=
perch=E8
la passione del pedale trascina al furto, alla truffa, alla grassazione!"
-Cesare Lombroso-
