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Tag: climate change

Cars — Optional

Published by TheKuboQueen on February 11, 2019
Pike’s Place Market is an iconic tourist stop in Seattle, yet the pedestrian visitors still have to dodge traffic around it.

Why do Americans drive their cars everywhere? Unfortunately, many areas in our country are built for them, not built for the comfort of people. Large parts of cities are zoned for single-family houses, for instance, meaning businesses and transit hubs probably aren’t within walking distance of home. When businesses are within walking distance, the way there is likely to be along a busy road full of high-speed cars, and the store is probably surrounded by a large parking lot. To make matters worse, many motorists aren’t even looking out for pedestrians. I’ve been cut off while in the crosswalk more than once. Trying to bike anywhere in these types of cities carries similar inconvenience and risk.

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The Merchants of Doubt and Their Dangerous Product

Published by TheKuboQueen on January 5, 2019

The conclusion of Merchants of Doubt begins with this scene:

Imagine a gigantic banquet. Hundreds of millions of people come to eat. They eat and drink to their hearts’ content — eating food that is better and more abundant than at the finest tables in ancient Athens or Rome, or even in the palaces of medieval Europe. Then, one day, a man arrives, wearing a white dinner jacket. He says he is holding the bill. Not surprisingly, the diners are in shock. Some begin to deny that this is their bill. Others deny that there even is a bill. Still others deny that they partook of the meal. One diner suggests that the man is not really a waiter, but is only trying to get attention for himself or to raise money for his own projects. Finally, the group concludes that if they simply ignore the waiter, he will go away.

Who among us wouldn’t be reluctant to pick up that tab? But the above anecdote isn’t about an imaginary feast at all — it’s actually about industrial civilization’s feast on energy from fossil fuels. And the bill? It’s also real. It’s the environmental consequences of this feast, which include global warming. But actually, how can the authors make such a bold statement about global warming when the science behind it is still mired in controversy?

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