Researchers calculated gas consumption from vehicles from 1949 to present and found that if American-owned vehicles were their own country, they’d be the sixth largest emitter of carbon dioxide on Earth.
American cars are also crazy fuel inefficient because the petrol is so cheap there. Non-American manufacturers literally have special versions of vehicles that consume more petrol, just for the US market.
Ending car dependency really is a revolutionary act. I don’t think* that the optimists grasp how much stuff needs to be demolished, how much needs to be rebuilt, and how much capital has to be erased. Of course, without that, the demolishing and deletion of capital is done in more horrible ways.
Even the program, mentioned positively in the article, is focused on giving more people cars instead of improving walkability and transit.
In an article that decries car dependancy, their solution is make cars more affordable.
Yes. And that is the car feedback loop:
- ends with deadly gridlock traffic
- destroys even more land
- sprawls until everyone’s bankrupt
- grows car infrastructure until everyone’s bankrupt
- or leads to tolls everywhere until the poorest are bankrupt
