Once again the affair with the personal combustion engine rears its uglier-than-believed head.
Andy -------- "The hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who, in times of moral crisis, remain neutral" --Dante > From: "ken avidor" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Organization: avidor studios > Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Date: Fri, 04 Jan 2002 11:10:47 -0600 > To: "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: [Mpls] The Elephant in the Living Room. > > There's a book called "The Elephant in the Living Room" that > suggests that American's addiction to automobiles is like a dead , > rotting elephant in the living room that is nearly impossible to ignore, > but nobody has the courage to talk about...I would just like to bring up > as a topic , a big piece of that taboo subject - Global Warming. > As the January temperatures here in Minneapolis climb back into the > '30's and 40's , and the thin crust of ice on our Chain of Lakes melts > away , we can no longer be in denial about Climate Change and our part > in creating the problem. We are burning more and more fossil fuels , > creating more and more CO2 and other greenhouse gasses. Burning a gallon > of gasoline creates 19.6 lbs. of CO2 , using this computer for an hour > creates .64 lb of CO2. > I've heard people say that warmer than usual temperatures in January > is a good change...but will they welcome above average temperatures in > July? For some people who prize comfort and convenience above all , not > having to shovel snow is wonderful ...but the lack of precipitation , > if it continues may turn their lawns and gardens brown in the Spring. > Global Warming is unlikely to cause any serious problems here in > Minneapolis in the near future. Like the proverbial frog in the frying > pan we will adjust to the slowly changing climate until it's too > late...but in other parts of the world , the heat is being turned up > very quickly...In the Pacific island nation of Tuvalu , the rise in sea > level has intensified storms and caused salt water intrusion into their > drinking water , killing crops and coconut trees....last year , the > entire nation of Tuvalu , ten thousand people asked New Zealand and > Australia to accept them as environmental refugees (www.tuvalu.f2s.com). > > And what is the Minneapolis response to Global Warming? We are > financing the building of parking ramps and widening roads...encouraging > the use of more fossil fuel burning cars. From the perspective of > Tuvalans (and future generations of Minnesotans) it doesn't look too > good...to put it mildly. > I would like to see the City of Minneapolis become a leader in the > reduction of greenhouse gas emissions...I would like to see a moratorium > on the building of infrastructure for cars and the money saved invested > in making the city more pedestrian friendly (plowing sidewalks for > instance) housing and mass transit. > > > -Avidor > Kingfield > > > > > _______________________________________ > Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy > Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: > http://e-democracy.org/mpls > _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
