[Coral-List] What can SCIENTISTS do??

[Charles Delbeek]

Douglas Fenner wrote:
>      I remind folks that the average French person produces one third the 
> amount of CO2 as the average American or Australian.  It can be done. 
> People are now saying that it would only take 0.1% of global GNP to solve 
> this problem.  We spend more than that on stuff we throw away.  If society 
> wants to solve this problem, it can be solved.  Let's get cracking.
>   
Don't forget too that in Europe, public transport systems are much more 
prevalent than in North America (think rail, metros, buses) plus many of 
these cities were around long before the car was so they are smaller, 
closer together and hence were easy to connect to each other. Also, 
people ride bikes and walk more than they do in North America. In North 
America cites are huge, distances between them are great, etc etc so 
getting around is not as easy as in Europe. I saw a Frontline program on 
urban congestion and srawl, using Atlanta as an example, they showed 
newly constructed neighbourhoods with no sidewalks, all geared toward 
the car. I read recently that the feds are going to start looking into 
boosting the rail system in America ... 'bout time I say.

Doug's bang on with the gas cost observation, fuel prices have always 
been higher in Europe and yes cars are smaller, but then so are the 
roads in many locales across Europe. Then again, gas prices were always 
higher in Canada than the US due to higher taxes, didn't stop them from 
buying big American made cars.

Aloha!
Charles