🚀 go-pugleaf

lort@fraser.sfu.ca (Charles Lort) writes:

> >one of them is going to be inconvenienced.
> 
> If you had seen the view of the city blocked by the air pollution this summer
> 
> 
>  will have no choice.  STOP WHINING AND START BUSING!!!!!
> lort@sfu.ca                    LIVING HIGH ABOVE YOUR EXHAUST
> 


Granted that there is an air pollution problem in the Lower Mainland, and 
that it needs to be addressed, it does NOT necessarily follow that the 
only way to do it is to get people out of cars and into transit. There 
are a lot of ways in which the air pollution problem can be addressed, 
including:

1. Encouraging the switching of motor vehicles to alternate fuels, which
   will lessen air pollution, such as natural gas and propane.

2. Continue research into improving the performance of electric vehicles 
   (which is not yet good enough to supplant gasoline power in most cases 
   because of short range, poor drivability and cost), keeping in mind 
   the air pollution (if any) caused by the electric power generation
   process.

3. Improve the flow of traffic on the roads and highways we do have, so 
   that the amount of time spent commuting (and polluting) is minimized.
   It does no one any good for commuter vehicles, including transit buses 
   to be delayed unnecessarily in traffic.

4. Encourage the movement of industry to the suburbs, so that people will 
   live closer to their jobs, and not have to travel downtown.

5. Drastically improve the performance, availability and safety of 
   passengers on public transit, so that they will choose to use it.

6. Begin extending the Air-Care program to buses and commercial vehicles.

7. Begin SERIOUSLY regulating the non-traffic sources of pollution in the 
   Lower Mainland, including municipal garbage incineration, and 
   requiring polluters to clean up their acts in a reasonable amount of 
   time or shut down.

I don't think we can concentrate on any one of these areas to the 
exclusion of all others, but characterizing legitimate objections as 
"whining" does not encourage discussion about how to fix the problem. We 
all need to contribute our share to the solution, and cheap pot shots 
don't help.


Robert Smits Ladysmith B.C. emd@ham.almanac.bc.ca
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Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they 
want, and deserve to get it good and hard. - H.L. Mencken