Carbon Market Bailout Announced

Washington, D.C. November 18th, 2014 - MSM News - Today U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers was on Capitol Hill to push for his 1400 billion dollar bailout for several major banks involved in the sub-prime carbon storage crisis. "We cannot let critical environmental initiatives suffer because of the weaknesses of one sector." he argued.
The sub-prime carbon storage crisis was precipitated when Brazilian authorities abruptly reassessed the valuations of thousands of parcels of sequestered rainforest. There had been claims for years that the parcels were overvalued and allegations of conflicts of interest with the World Carbon Bank that sets the valuations, but the move by Brasilia was a surprise to many. As a result, said Summers, "many large banks in the U.S. with carbon structured investment vehicles are unable to determine what percent of such holdings are tainted by sub-prime carbon sequesters."

In other news, U.S. President Dick Cheney urged Americans to "stay the course" in the war in Turkmenistan, and not lose sight of the goals simply because of a few setbacks in military operations in Nigeria, Afghanistan, and Iraq. "We have to hang tough" he urged, speaking to a Rose Garden gathering of Tea-Partiers-for-Freedom at the White House today... read more at: MSM-News.com

Your bumper sticker whispers "peace"...

but your tailpipe bellows "WAR."

• autosprawl creates energy demand
• energy demand empowers suppliers
• suppliers need to control raw source regions
• suppliers influence government
• government invades raw source regions
• government subsidizes autosprawl

.
==> to stop energy wars, stop the subidies.

Freedom from Car

I've been car-free since 1989. Since then, I've felt such a feeling of freedom that I can't imagine ever owning a car again. Young people are astutely realizing this: look at the leading causes of accidental death among young people. Look at the sunk costs and debt required to serve an automobile-centered life. Look at the lost time spent finding a parking space, parking, sitting in traffic, routine and non-routine maintenance, gassing up the car, and the rate of death for car drivers. Being free of all of this is the best possible feeling you can have.

I urge you to consider being car-free: you can do it by living close to what matters to you in an environment that has an existing infrastructure of walkable urbanism and alternative transportation. See if you can walk and bike to your major destinations. Choose your home close to transit lines. In the odd time you need a vehicle, rent one, use a zip car, or see about community car-sharing services. It is easy to be car free, and the freedom you gain from it is uniquely American. Cars, invented in the 19th century, popularized in the 20th, and worshipped by our grandparents, aren't a smart choice for the 21st century. JohnDecember, commenting on Planetizen

Hundreds of millions of years of stored CO2 released in a few decades

Mid-Autumn Festival displaces cars on 10th street

Philadelphia 2009 Chinatown Mid-Autumn Festival [9/26/2009]

The wages of sprawl - drought and flood

Today is World Car-Free Day

2008 Car-Free Day in London, England

An estimated 50,000 cyclists joined the London Freewheel, Britain's biggest mass cycle ride.Link

Harrisburg - The "art" of parking

Enough to make the Onion jealous

Teabaggers want better public transit so they can protest government spending. Yes. You read that correctly. WallStreetJournalBlog [be sure to read the comments too, you are in for a treat]

Here is a sample of the comments...

I guess WAMTA made the logical assumption that all the self-sufficient, government-hatin’, freedom-defendin’ Tea Party crowd would rather have been caught dead rather than use a socialist, one-size fits-all, government-run, public-option transit system. Surely their belief in the superiority of the free market in providing all services should have prompted them to support hard-working, taxi-driving entrepreneurs rather than than the lazy, inefficient, unionized workers who try to keep Metro running despite chronic underfunding from Congressmen like Brady. Who would have known that these modern day Paul Reveres and Thomas Paines would have betrayed their ideals just to avoid a little traffic and some parking difficulties?...

West Memphis, Arkansas can have it, why can't we?

...On Thursday, officials from West Memphis and MATA met to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their collaboration. Offering free bus service wasn't a popular idea, said West Memphis Mayor Bill Johnson.
"We were criticized. They said it wouldn't be utilized, it wasn't necessary and people wouldn't ride it," Johnson said. "We average over 20,000 (riders) a month."... Commercial Appeal

Tired of looking for parking?

Septa and Phlash get you to Penn's Landing with no parking to worry about. Imagine if they were fare-free. There would be much more freedom of movement, less congestion, and fewer cars circling center city blocks looking for a place to park.

Medhanie Estiphanos - Free Public Transportation

Where do you stand on residential parking permits? [from myasara] What about congestion pricing? [from Mike]

Medhanie Estiphanos: My goal is to lift as many cars off the road as possible as they are bad for our environment, health, and economy. This is why I am a strong advocate for free public transportation. However as a former resident of California and former habitual driver, I also see the need for and appreciate residential parking permits. Therefore, I support it.
Medhanie Estiphanos.
Regarding congestion pricing, I fully support it as long as the revenue generated by congestion pricing goes towards reducing the cost of public transportation. Implementing congestion pricing and allowing the cost of public transportation to continue to spiral upward does not at all address the lack of fairness in the City – because you will then make all transportation expensive.
Moreover, congestion pricing without cheap or free public transportation will reduce traffic in Manhattan but may increase it Brooklyn and the other boroughs. This would be very poor urban planning. NYTimes