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Transport can help propel world to greener future: UN
Risa Maeda, Reuters
Shipping, airlines and road transport need to clean up their emissions and help drive governments towards policies to fight global warming, a top U.N. official said on Thursday.
The transport sector accounts for more than 20 percent of mankind’s carbon dioxide emissions, and further growth is likely given rising demand for cars, goods and travel in developing countries.
Transport will also be a key part of a broader U.N. climate pact about 190 nations will try to agree on at the end of the year during talks on a successor to the Kyoto Protocol.
(15 January 2009)
Oregon envisions gas tax based on miles, not gallons
Edward Walsh, The Oregonian
Gov. Ted Kulongoski wants the state to become a center for the production of electric vehicles.
In Washington, D.C., the incoming Obama administration and Congress are pushing automakers to improve fuel efficiency and build cars that run on some fuel other than gasoline.
All of this would reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign oil, but it also would reduce Oregon’s revenue from the gas tax, the main source of money to maintain and improve the Oregon highway system.
As a result, the Oregon Department of Transportation is in the early stages of an experiment to meet the expected decline in gas tax revenue by developing a transportation tax system that is based not on gallons purchased at the pump but on miles traveled within the state.
It’s called a “vehicle mileage tax,” and it’s raising concerns over privacy and practicality.
… The Oregon Constitution mandates that gas tax revenues can only be spent to maintain and improve the state highway system. They account for about 60 percent of ODOT’s highway budget. That budget is getting squeezed from two directions, said James Whitty, manager of the agency’s Office of Innovative Partnerships and Alternative Funding.
One is inflation, driven by the rising cost of building materials and labor, which has been running at about 5 percent a year. The other is a decline in revenues due to improved fuel efficiency that costs the highway budget one-half of 1 percent in each of the past two years, Whitty said.
(14 January 2009)
I’m with Big Gav on this: Bad idea -BA
S.F.’s half-baked congestion pricing plan
Editorial, San Francisco Chronicle
Some eco-friendly ideas may be too much even for San Francisco. That’s the general reaction to a plan to charge $3 to drive into the downtown area in the name of controlling traffic and raising money for transit.
The Board of Supervisors will get a chance to consider the outlines of a congestion pricing proposal by April with further approvals possibly in a year. The members should be skeptical of an idea that’s drawn heavy verbal crossfire at public meetings, opposition from business and doubts about its practicality, finances and chances for success.
Outside a coterie of planners and hard-core enthusiasts, the notion of paying more to drive on relatively unclogged city streets isn’t ready for prime time.
(15 January 2009)
The photo accompanying the article was of traffic gridlock in what looks like San Francisco. Mild rebellion by a Chronicle staffer? -BA
The first comment on the Chronicle’s website was from “sirwalterralegh”
“Wow, this editorial is almost giddily lacking in fact-based argumentation. “It’s politically difficult, so therefor it’s a bad idea”. Relatively uncongested streets? Not sure what city you’ve been driving your SUV through, but it’s not downtown SF. The New York Times’ Freakonomics blog has a much more insightful explanation for why drivers might appreciate such a charge once it’s in place: http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/08/why-youll-love-paying-f… ”
SoupCycle delivers sustenance, sustainably
Anne Laufe, The Oregonian
SoupCycle, a company that delivers hearty organic soups by bicycle, joined the ranks of Portland’s bike-centric businesses last July. Despite the economic downturn, business is booming.
Jed Lazar and Shauna Lambert came up with the idea last year when they were working toward master’s of business administration degrees at Bainbridge Graduate Institute on Bainbridge Island, Wash. Founded in 2002, the institute helps students learn how to develop businesses that are environmentally sustainable, socially responsible and financially successful.
During their monthly commutes from Portland to the institute for weekend classes, Lambert and Lazar tossed around ideas for the business plan they were required to write.
“I had heard about the Soup Peddler in Austin, Texas,” says Lazar, 29. “Soup and bikes — it just seemed like something I could get my head around.”
… Lazar continues to ride an electric-assisted bike assembled by EcoSpeed also with a Blue Sky trailer.
“With two coolers of soup, salad and bread, we’re carrying about 200 pounds,” Lazar says. “It’s fine on the flats, but going up over the Hawthorne Bridge you really get a workout. The electric assist helps a lot on the hills.”
Six months after launching SoupCycle, Lazar and Lambert say they are starting to make a profit.
(15 January 2009)
