Average fuel economy of new US cars
1987: 22 mpg
2020 (mostly trucks/SUVs): 25 mpg
we’ve come a short way, baby
The myth of the American love affair with cars – washingtonpost.com
Emily Badger
This “love affair” was coined, in fact, during a 1961 episode of a weekly hour-long television program called the DuPont Show of the Week (sponsored, incidentally, by DuPont, which owned a 23 percent stake in General Motors at the time). The program, titled “Merrily We Roll Along,” was promoted by DuPont as “the story of America’s love affair with the automobile.”
Up to 40 vehicles set on fire in spate of arson attacks – wiltshirelive.co.uk
About 40 vehicles were deliberately set on fire – including about 20 at a Rolls Royce facility. Residents near the plant in Filton, South Gloucestershire, reported they were awoken by loud bangs and could see a huge fire.
On top of that about 20 vehicles were set alight in the Bristol area in the early hours of Sunday morning. Avon and Somerset Police first received a call at about 1.30am about a vehicle on fire in New Road, Stoke Gifford.
Every City’s Cycleway Network Should Be As Dense As Road Network, Says American Academic – forbes.com
Carlton Reid
“People on bicycles want to reach all destinations in a city just the same way that people in cars want to be able to reach all parts of the city,” says American academic Marcel Moran.
“A city’s bike network should be equivalent to the road network,” he told me via a Zoom call.
“The challenge is not where bike lanes should go, but where shouldn’t they go? And there are very few places we shouldn’t have safe bike infrastructure.”
Andreas Malm on “How to Blow up a Pipeline” – Should the Climate Movement Embrace Sabotage? – newyorker.com I Audio
Condé Nast : Listen to this story
Professor Andreas Malm, who studies the relationship between climate change and capitalism, insists that the environmental movement reconsider its roots in nonviolence.
Malm insists that the environmental movement rethink its roots in nonviolence and instead embrace “intelligent sabotage.”
The New Yorker Radio Hour is a co-production of WNYC Studios and The New Yorker.
Protesters continue to block UK oil terminals despite more than 100 arrests | Environmental activism | The Guardian
Clea Skopeliti
More than 100 people have been arrested as climate change protesters continued to block UK oil terminals as part of a campaign to disrupt the fossil fuel industry.
Supporters of Just Stop Oil began the action in the early hours of Friday morning at refineries near London, Birmingham and Southampton by climbing on to tankers and gluing themselves to roads.
The activists continued to disrupt oil terminals on Saturday morning and said they had gained access to further sites.
Essex police said officers arrested a total of 83 people after protests in the Thurrock district.
The force said 63 were arrested on Friday following protests in Oliver Road, Grays, London Road, Purfleet, and Askew Farm Lane, Grays. Another 20 people were arrested on Saturday in Oliver Road and Stoneness Road, Grays.
Scientists urge end to fossil fuel use as landmark IPCC report readied | Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) | The Guardian
Scientists urge end to fossil fuel use as landmark IPCC report readied
Talks stretch past deadline as governments are accused of trying to water down findings
Fiona Harvey
The world must abandon fossil fuels as a matter of urgency, rather than entrusting the future climate to untried “techno-fixes” such as sucking carbon out of the air, scientists and campaigners have urged, as governments wrangled over last-minute changes to a landmark scientific report.
What happens to the soil under heavily concreted environments? | Soil | The Guardian
Readers reply: what happens to the soil under heavily concreted environments?
What most people think of as soil exists only near the ground surface and has terrible engineering properties: whatever gets built on top settles unevenly and rain ingress can lead to swelling and erosion. So all the organic stuff containing the worms and dead leaves tends to be excavated, leaving firmer soil below to build structures on. Sadly, removing all that soil organic matter is taking quite a toll ecologically and environmentally (globally, soil is our No 2 carbon sink, after the oceans) so we need to be doing more to ensure we always return the nutrients to the earth. Ted O’Hare
If you look at the challenges faced by urban street trees, that’s probably an indication of the soil quality under heavily concreted areas. City trees grow in soil that is very depleted in nutrients due to a lack of top soil and organic matter from fallen leaves and other plant and animal debris; the soil will be much more compacted and less aerated, and surrounding surfaces are largely impermeable to oxygen and rainwater, which is also likely to be more polluted. Urban areas also act as heat islands increasing moisture evaporation. Consequently urban trees have a much shorter lifespan than suburban or rural trees, reflected by the soil quality. Mrs Lessing
London’s bike hire scheme keeps breaking records – cyclingweekly.com
Adam Becket
London’s bike hire scheme keeps breaking its own records, with Santander Cycles being hired more than ever before for each of the last six months.
Data released by Transport for London on Friday shows that for each month since September, the number of hires has broken the previous record for that month.
In February, 750,000 hires were made across the capital, which works out at average of almost 27,000 per day. January was also a record month for the scheme, with 748,000 hires, or 24,000 per day, despite the inclement weather.
The London bike hire scheme also had its record year in 2021, with figures showing that 11 million bikes were hired out last year.
Last stop, underwater: the Spanish railway line being devoured by the sea | Coastlines | The Guardian
Stephen Burgen
The sea sparkles and laps against the shore of the Maresme coast, north of Barcelona, as the train runs alongside it, passing the few hopeful spring sunbathers and surfers. At points, Spain’s oldest train line runs so close to the shore it feels as if you’re travelling on the sea itself.
Last Sunday, that could well have happened. Heavy waves took a giant bite out of the coast, threatening a section of the track with collapse and forcing the train company to lay on a bus service between La Pineda and Malgrat de Mar.