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WORLD CARFREE NEWS >>>
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Edition no. 43 - May 2007 - English version
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Contents:
QUOTATION OF THE MONTH
IN THE NEWS
WORLD CARFREE NETWORK ANNOUNCEMENTS
- CARBUSTERS SPRING SUBSCRIPTION DRIVE
- TOWARDS CARFREE CITIES VII, AUGUST 27-31, ISTANBUL: UPDATE
- 2ND ANNUAL STREET CONVERSION DESIGN CONTEST
- CARFREE GREEN PAGES - SPREAD THE WORD
GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
- CARFREE DEVELOPMENT MODULE IN CHINESE
- INTERNATIONAL DAY OF ACTION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE G8 - JUNE 8
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QUOTATION OF THE MONTH >>
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"It's hard to imagine a more quixotic quest than asking us to give up television for any length of time. The only one I can think of that comes close is the mission of World Carfree Network, the anti-car crusaders. Not only are cars and TVs our culture's most prominent inventions, but in many ways they invented our culture."
- John M. Crisp on National TV-Turnoff Week for the Times- Herald Record newspaper, New York [Recordonline.com]
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IN THE NEWS >>
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- 50,000 cyclists participated in the Budapest Critical Mass. The president of the republic, Laszlo Solyom, rode along, as did the mayor of Budapest, Gabor Demszky. Debrecen, a town of 200,000 had 3,200 people participate. The town of Kaposvar, population 70,000, had 400 to 500 riders. For pictures and video go to <
http://criticalmass.hu/blogbejegyzes/20070422/critical-mass- budapest-2007-04-22-sajto-foto-video-gyujtes> and scroll down until you see "fotok" and "videok."
- The Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company is behind plans for a six square kilometre carfree district in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates. "[The project] uses the traditional planning principals of a walled city, together with existing technologies, to achieve a zero carbon and zero waste community," write the master-planners Foster and Partners. For more information and pictures see <
http://www.fosterandpartners.com/News/291/Default.aspx>.
- The Wall Street Journal lavishes praise on Amsterdam and Copenhagen as they "launch a new attack on car culture." To access the article (for free only until tomorrow, Friday) go to <
www.planetizen.com/node/24302>.
- Volkswagen is violating its commitment to reducing the environmental impact of its cars, says Germanwatch, an environmental organization. VW has "lobbied aggressively against climate protection frameworks" and continues to heavily market its gas-guzzling luxury automobiles [<
http://www.germanwatch.org/corp/vw.htm>].
- Israeli Reform Rabbi Levi Weinman Kalman suggested that one Sabbath a month should be declared a carfree day. Rabbi Shlomo Aviner responded to Rabbi Kalman's suggestions: "it's true we have only one planet earth...but the damage caused to it is minor. The money and resources that go into preserving the environment should be invested in more important things" [<
http://www.ynetnews.com>].
- The Brussels Minister of Transport, Pascal van Smet, favours monthly carfree days, too [<
www.nieuwsuitamsterdam.nl>].
- The mayor of the commune of Ixelles in Brussels, Willy Decourty, is opposing the approved project for a carfree Place Flagey, an important square. He is afraid that the planned underground parking lot may flood in the event of massive rain [submitted by Anne-Louise Flynn].
- One day after the Irish Minister of Transport shoveled the first pile of dirt, ceremoniously beginning construction on a EUR 850 million motorway, the real diggers discovered an archaeological site from the Iron or the Bronze Age. The highway builders will now have to make way for the archaeologists [<
www.savetara.com>].
- A hotter planet is encouraging more "local" tourism as it is no longer necessary for Europeans to fly to Mallorca, when they can take the train to Mecklenburg, a Baltic Sea town. "I think its better for the climate to stay here in Germany," says one tourist [<
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6632615.stm>].
- To avoid competing with daily urban noise, birds are choosing to sing at night, rather than during the day. "Noise levels were 10 times higher in places where birds were singing at night," says Richard Fuller, a scientist from the University of Sheffield [<
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6591649.stm>].
- On an Oakland, California highway, a tanker trunk carrying 8,600 gallons of gasoline exploded and melted the highway, which then collapsed onto the roadway below. "There were bright orange flames and they were huge," said one eyewitness. "There were cars driving through the flames. The first cars slowed down like they didn't know what to do and then kept going" [<
http://carfreeusa.blogspot.com>].
- The 2006 Czech "Oil Guzzler" award goes to Industry and Trade Minister Martin Riman. In the 2008-2012 National Allocation Plan, he proposed raising the country's emission limits by 25% on 2005 levels [<
http://www.praguemonitor.com>].
- The 2006 Czech "Green Pearl" award for the most environmentally unfriendly statement went to Teplice mayor Jaroslav Kubera. In reaction to a petition against building a motorway, he told colleagues in the Senate that they should try not to deal with petitions "as we cannot solve [the claims in] them. We should rather take note of them and try to prevent the petitioners from further addressing us" [<
http://www.praguemonitor.com>].
- Bangladeshi Members of Parliament (MPs) have had their privilege of importing cars duty-free revoked. These MPs mostly purchased luxury SUVs, whose duty is as much as 200% of the cost price [<
http://www.thedailystar.net>].
- The Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways lobbied and finally convinced one of the most UK car-dominated cities to invest in an extra train on one of the branch lines. "This may seem irrelevant on a global scale," writes Julie Boston, who submitted this item, "but it was a great victory in Bristol."
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WORLD CARFREE NETWORK ANNOUNCEMENTS >>
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CARBUSTERS SPRING SUBSCRIPTION DRIVE
Carbusters needs your help to expand our circulation, so we are holding our first annual subscription drive. Everyone who subscribes or renews before June 21 will receive a 20% discount on a one-year subscription. That's only US$13 per year! To subscribe go to <
http://www.carbusters.org/subscribe/index.php>.
TOWARDS CARFREE CITIES VII, AUGUST 27-31, ISTANBUL: UPDATE
We are still accepting proposals for presentations, workshops and other programme content. See <
www.worldcarfree.net/conference/proposals.php> for details. To ensure that your proposal can be included in the programme, please send it as soon as possible.
Conference registration is open, and participants should already book their accommodation. Two suggested options are Sebnem Hotel (
www.sebnemhotel.net) and Sultan Hostel (
www.sultanhostel.com).
The conference website (
www.worldcarfree.net/conference/) will be updated this month with more detailed information, following recent planning meetings.
We hope to see you in August and welcome you to Istanbul.
2ND ANNUAL STREET CONVERSION DESIGN CONTEST
Due to the popularity of last year's competition and the importance of continuing to promote alternative and creative uses of public space, the Street Conversion Design Contest returns in 2007.
Again there are three submission categories: a parking space, a block-long segment of street, and an intersection with the adjoining streets.
The contest is open to all. The details and guidelines will be posted at <
www.worldcarfree.net/contest/> tomorrow, Friday, May 11. The deadline for submissions will be August 15, and the judging will take place at the Towards Carfree Cities VII conference in Istanbul. Please circulate widely.
CARFREE GREEN PAGES - SPREAD THE WORD
The Carfree Green Pages is a fully searchable online database of over 600 organisations worldwide. See <
www.worldcarfree.net/greenpages/>. You can also register your own group in the Green Pages, or ask groups in your area to create their own listings. There's also a downloadable Green Pages banner that you can put on your websites to help promote the Green Pages.
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GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS >>
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CARFREE DEVELOPMENT MODULE IN CHINESE
The Carfree Development module by Lloyd Wright of the GTZ Sustainable Urban Transport Project has been translated into Chinese and is now available for download from the documents section of
www.sutp.org (
www.sutp.cn for Chinese users). The English version can also be accessed via this website.
INTERNATIONAL DAY OF ACTION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE G8 - JUNE 8
From the Rising Tide: "On June 8, thousands of people around the world will take action to challenge the fossil fuel madness of the G8 government and their oil-addicted business buddies. Actions targeting the root causes of climate change are planned around world. Use this day to take action in your local area."
At <
www.risingtide.org.uk> you can download calls to action in German, Dutch, and Portugese, as well as English and German flyers for Critical Mass, many of which are being organised on this day.
...
Bulletin #43 by Steven Logan
<selogan(at)worldcarfree.net>
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