Caroline Seton
London was once crisscrossed by trams. Before the Second World War, tramlines ran from one side of the city to the other. With the exception of Croydon, the trams are all gone. But why did London abandon its network of zero-emissions electric trams?
During the post-war recovery, trams were seen as a relic and policymakers wanted to encourage London’s denizens to adopt private cars that were seen as a symbol of freedom. With the benefit of hindsight, those decisions made in the 1940s and ’50s represent a historic mistake. As we reach another historical juncture – making our way tentatively out of the pandemic – it’s important to highlight that the decisions that we make now about our cities will have long-term consequences.
Scientists Fear that the Gulf Stream May Soon Collapse | Medium
The northern hemisphere could plummet into periods of extreme cold
Charles Stephen Aug 26
The Gulf Stream in the Atlantic Ocean is one of those things in our world that we take for granted. It chugs along daily, providing countless benefits to our way of life.
But it seems that its very existence is being jeopardized because of global warming. In fact, a recent study published in February of this year claims that the Gulf Stream is weaker today than any time over the last 1600 years.
What is the Gulf Stream?
To fully appreciate the urgency surrounding this news, one must first understand the inner workings of the Gulf Stream and what it provides to the world.
For the bargain price of around £1 a day @hackneycouncil let you store your rarely used private property in a public space – Twitter
For the bargain price of around £1 a day
@hackneycouncil
let you store your rarely used private property in a public space. This old Rolls Royce is 5.3 meters long, hasn’t moved for months. I’d rather this was a parklet but Hackney only allows 15 applications a year.
Two wheels good: four of London’s best and most bike-friendly new routes – News Nation USA
Noah hilton
This article is part of a new cycling series and a guide to London from FT Globetrotter
When other residents of my street in Brixton, south London, see me leaving the house with my Surly Long Haul Trucker touring bike, I realise how sharply my idea of cycling differs from many other people’s. They assume I ride for leisure and inquire whether I’m off for a “nice ride”. Because I regard cycling as primarily a means of getting around, I explain that, no, I’m off to pick up groceries, collect my son from cricket training or ride to a work appointment.
Are you upset that Extinction Rebellion blocked some streets in Oslo today during the #NordicRebellion ? – Twitter
Aug 23
Are you upset that Extinction Rebellion blocked some streets in Oslo today during the #NordicRebellion ?
XR protesters stage sit-in outside the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy demanding an end to new investment in fossil fuels| The Guardian
Caspar Hughes from XR Roads Rebellion, the transport-focussed movement, called for an end to investment in road building, which he said led to more investment into and use of fossil fuels.
Hughes said that, after four days of the current disobedience campaign, he was encouraged by the reaction and that the public found it easier than in the past to understand the “immediate demand” to stop fossil fuel investment.
“Stop investing in fossil fuels, it’s simple. It’s really striking home. The public is starting to get it and the media is starting to get it,” he said. “We’re spending £27bn on building new roads, which is complete, total suicide. If you build new roads they get filled up with new cars; each car is 12 tonnes of embedded emissions.
“It’s that immediate demand that’s really important. It’s something we have to do now. It’s not a case of doing anything, it’s a case of stopping doing something that’s going to kill us. We can stop searching for new fossil fuels.
Leaked report of the IPCC reveals that the growth model of capitalism is unsustainable | MR Online
Capitalism, Climate Change, Ecology, Environment, Media, Political EconomyGlobalCommentary, NewsFeatured, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Posted Aug 23, 2021 by Juan Bordera, Fernando Valladares, Antonio Turiel, Ferran Puig Vilar, Fernando Prieto, Tim Hewlett
The second draft of the IPCC Group III report, focused on mitigation strategies, states that we must move away from the current capitalist model to avoid surpassing planetary boundaries and climate and ecological catastrophe). It also confirms our previous reports, covered by CTXT and The Guardian, that “greenhouse gas emissions must peak in the next four years”. The new leak acknowledges that there is little or no room for further economic growth.
Camden cycle lane voted through despite Conservative claim road was “Too steep” for it | road.cc
Councillors had claimed schoolkids won’t use protected bike lane due to gradient averaging 3.5% – but local schools back the infrastructure
A Camden Council committee yesterday evening voted through plans for a protected cycle lane on a road that Conservative councillors had claimed was “too steep” for many cyclists, including children.
Tory councillors in the Labour-controlled borough had called in the scheme, but the council’s culture and environment committee voted it through by a majority of five to one, with the news welcomed by London’s walking and cycling commissioner, Will Norman.
Brussels battles old prejudices as it frees unloved river from its vault | The Guardian
Daniel Boffey
While Paris’s winding Seine has been an inspiration for some of the greatest works of romantic art and literature, the unloved Senne running through Brussels has been buried away under concrete for the last 150 years, condemned by locals as little more than a sewer and cause of disease and unhappiness.
As a constant flood risk and source of cholera, it was vaulted in, built over and hidden from sight. Now, however, Belgium’s capital is preparing to stage an inauguration ceremony that officials hope will help force a rethink among Bruxellois about their centuries-held prejudices against the waterway.
After the removal of 1,966 tonnes of concrete, a 200-metre stretch of the Senne near the Buda suburb in north Brussels will be formally opened to the elements, with new banks constructed in part from the rubble of its former tomb.
‘London needs a Junior Bicycle Mayor,’ says Dutch cycling policy adviser | London Evening Standard | Evening Standard
Mark Blunden
Officials in Holland say young cycling campaigners should be encouraged to get involved with urban policy to improve safety, along with adding practical solutions such as removing traffic lights to promote respect between cyclists and pedestrians, more eye contact between road users and putting countdown screens at bike crossings.
It comes after the appointment of Amsterdam’s first Junior Bicycle Mayor, eight-year-old Lotta Crok, who was selected from a group of “bicycle heroes” who campaign in schools to improve cycling. The city’s safety measures also include bike classes for children after they first learn to ride aged four, and give-way road markings for cyclists.