We want liveable cities, too. Charlie Hertzog Young
16 March 2022
As petrol prices soar to 165p per litre, the Ukraine crisis has made our unhealthy dependence on fossil fuels starkly apparent and given renewed impetus for a rapidly accelerated green transition. Banning cars in cities is an obvious place to start.
Yet car lobbies, along with some in government and civil society, protest automobile abstinence, citing disabled people. “How will people in wheelchairs get around if we abolish cars?” they plead. I’m a double amputee and frequent wheelchair user, and I find this faux sympathy repugnant.
Disabled people should be asked what we want, not be unilaterally drafted in by petrolheads. A recent report from the climate change charity Possible did just that, asking dozens of people to reimagine the built environment in light of climate realities.
10 of the best cycling trail holidays in the UK | Travel | The Guardian
Annabelle Thorpe
The Viking Coastal Trail, Kent
Stretching for 51km around the Isle of Thanet, the Viking Trail can be split into shorter, family-friendly day rides, while the entire route makes a great two-day trip, combining long stretches of coast and vibrant seaside towns including Margate and Ramsgate with quiet inland villages, 7th-century Minster Abbey and the spectacular chalk stacks at Botany Bay, this is a varied ride.
Police warn against vigilante action against duckling hit-and-run driver – theguardian.com
Matthew Weaver Sun 22 May 2022
Police have urged the public against any vigilante actions after the registration of a driver who allegedly ran over a brood of ducklings was published online.
Staffordshire police confirmed it is investigating a Facebook post which claimed that at least three ducklings were killed on Friday at a roundabout in Trentham near Stoke-on-Trent. The post claimed they were killed by the driver of a white transit van who allegedly ignored other drivers who were waiting for the ducks to cross the road.
The licence plate of the van was widely circulated on Twitter and Facebook over the weekend, prompting widespread abuse of the van’s driver and calls to hunt them down.
Could vertical farms help cities feed themselves? | BusinessGreen News
James Murray 28 April 2022
New report from Tony Blair Institute explores how cities could source 30 per cent of their own fresh produce by 2030 using a range of innovative new technologies
With Russia’s war on Ukraine having sparked significant food price inflation and growing concerns over food security, businesses and policymakers are stepping up efforts to identify alternative sources…
20mph Speed Camera In UK City Catches 1,100 Drivers In First 24 Hours – ladbible.com
The 20mph speed camera was installed by Plymouth City Council, having become fully operational on Monday 9 May.
Before it was activated, a trial period produced ‘really troubling’ results, with police issuing a warning about the ‘risk of serious or fatal injuries’ that speeding can contribute towards.
Round-the-world cyclist arrives in UK… and has bike stolen outside a Reading Wetherspoons two days later | road.cc
A British adventure cyclist who says he spent 835 days cycling around the world “through countries people repeatedly warned were too dangerous to visit” has had his latest adventure brought to an abrupt end… outside a Reading branch of Wetherspoons, where his girlfriend’s bike was stolen.
Josiah Skeats says he has covered over 40,000km by bike on his Instagram page, and was on only his second day of bike touring in England when he arrived in Reading on Tuesday.
According to the Reading Chronicle(link is external), Skeats was part way through cycling the new King Alfred’s Way route with his girlfriend, when the theft happened five metres away from where they were sitting outside the Hope Tap in Friar Street.
The last metro? Crossrail and the uncertain future of urban transit – ft.com
ft.com Gill Plimmer
The opening of the world’s first metro system in London in 1863 was a chaotic event: steam in the tunnels obscured signals and choked drivers, the gas lighting frightened travellers — and “there were so many anxious passengers trying to get on board, that there were fights for seats”, according to the Penny Gazette.
Nearly 160 years later, the British capital is hoping for a smoother launch this week of the newest 100km addition to its transport network: the £19bn Crossrail train line, designed to carry tens of millions of passengers between the west and east of London.
How Russian sanctions can help combat the climate crisis – Simon Pirani – opendemocracy.net
Simon Pirani
Three months into the Kremlin’s war against Ukraine, European politicians and officials are working out plans to reduce fossil fuel imports from Russia to zero.
This week, the European Commission published a plan to end Russian gas imports by 2027. Climate campaign groups say it can be done much sooner.This is a historic turning point. Gas imports from Russia started in the 1960s and came to symbolise not only a flourishing trading relationship with Europe, but also a geopolitical partnership that survived the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991.
How strong is the case for Europe’s labour movement and civil society to support sanctions against the Russian economy, and specifically against Russian fossil fuels? Which sanctions could be effective? And could an embargo on Russian oil and gas imports give a push to decarbonisation and the fight to prevent dangerous global warming?
Park the Car – New Initiative from Ford | Ford UK – ford.co.uk
‘Park the Car’ is a new initiative from Ford that launches today. It is probably the last thing many people would expect from an auto maker. However, driving responsibly is no longer just about safety. It’s also about caring for our environment and our health – and walking or cycling once a day, active travel, can bring about significant change.
According to the World Health Organization, half of European car journeys are less than 5 km and – especially in cities – these are often the kind of trips that could easily be made by bike or on foot1.
Walking or cycling instead of driving just once a day could reduce personal daily carbon footprints by up to 84 per cent2. This in turn could support an 8 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by cars – and help point towards a greener future for everyone3.
‘Ella’s law’ bill seeks to establish right to clean air in UK | Air pollution | The Guardian
Gary Fuller
A new clean air law is starting out in parliament after the Green party peer Jenny Jones won first place in the House of Lords ballot for private members’ bills.
Named Ella’s law, as a tribute to nine-year-old Ella Kissi-Debrah who died from asthma induced by air pollution, the bill would establish a right to clean air and set up a commission to oversee government actions and progress. It would also join policies on indoor and outdoor air pollution with actions to combat our climate emergency, and include annual reviews of the latest science.
Jones said: “Having a nice environment isn’t just a matter of ecology and science, it is a question of social justice. The clean air (human rights) bill would enshrine the human right to healthy air precisely and explicitly in UK law. A suitable date for the government to put it into law would be before the 70th anniversary of the Great Smog later this year”.