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Posted on November 7, 2008 @ 08:39:00 AM by Paul Meagher
I have not examined Barack Obama's energy and environment policies in too much detail yet. I scanned a clip in which he discussed green ecomomy ideas. One part that I did not resonate to was Barack's advocacy for subsidizing the automotive industry to retool so that the industry can become "green". Given that Barack is from the epicenter of cartown U.S.A. it is hardly surprising that he would be advocating a future in which we get a 100 miles to the gallon in our Jetson mobiles. Unfortunately, I don't think the CO2 math is on Barack's side. Heavy support for the renewal and expansion of historically unsustainable U.S. automotive industry and its players will in all likelihood not help the U.S. to achieve a declining CO2 output.
The next big players in a quickly transforming transportation sector may not be a familiar names like Ford, GM, or Toyota, but rather names like Norco, Specialized, Giant, and other innovative bicycle design, manufacturing, distribution, retailing, and repair shops.
I think we need to allow the transportation sector to evolve in the context of government advocacy of active and public transport alternatives, rather than propping up an unsustainable automotive industry. Many european cities have evolved away from cars and traffic into different work/living arrangements and transport modalities. The bicycle is often the primary mode of assisted active transport in those cities.
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