Ode to the Auto

Ode to the Auto The effects, worldwide, of automobile dependance..
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		Agriculture	“Between 1 – 1.5 million acres of U.S. farmland are consumed by suburban sprawl every year." The American Farmland Trust

		Air Pollution	"It has been calculated that 70% of Carbon Dioxide, 45% of Nitrogen Oxides, and 34% of the Hydrocarbon pollution in the United States can be traced directly to automobile exhausts. The Columbia Encyclopedia 6th Edition 2001

		Biology	“Most of the body during driving remains still and passive, not like walking where the entire body exerts effort and remains continuously active, tension tends to build up where the body is physically restricted and constricted. Dealing with stress and pressure in the vehicle, Taxonomy of Driving Behavior: Affective, Cognitive, Sensorimotor Dr. Leon James and Dr. Diane Nahl University of Hawaii Oct. 2002

		Cost	“The cost to society of automobile death and injury, is conservatively estimated at $17 billion annually. The vehicle damage adds at least another $5 billion yearly." Princeton University

		Drunk Driving	4,933 Americans are killed and 500,000 are injured by drunk drivers every year. Mothers Against Drunk Driving New York Times

	.	Economics	Japan spends 9% of it’s Gross National Product for transportation while the United States spends 15-18%. Are Bicycles making Japan more competitive? Walter Hook Institute for Transportation & Development

	The entire capacity of the GWB could be filled with one single train line.	Engineering	It takes three lanes of a given size to move 40,000 people across a bridge in one hour by using automated trains, four to move them on buses, twelve to move them in their cars, and only two lanes for them to pedal across on bicycles. Ivan Illich

		Finance –	The average New York City resident will spend- $300 to commute by bicycle for one year $1090 on subway fare for one year $1600 for 200 ten mile trips by taxi $7000 per year to own and operate an automobile Transportation Alternatives American Automobile Association Victoria Transport Policy Project

		Government	The Federal Government subsidies for the oil industry include: -$5.7 billion: the Strategic Petroleum Reserve -$784 million: the Percentage Depletion Allowance -$769 million: the Nonconventional Fuel Production Credit -$200 million: the Enhanced Oil Recovery Credit -$97 million: the Department of Interiors Oil Resources Management Programs The International Center for Technology Assessment
	New York Times	Government

	©Greenpeace/Matthieu Barret	Global Warming	According to the latest findings of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, in order to stabilize greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, global emissions must be reduced to at least 60 percent below 1990 levels. New York Times How Green is BP? Dec. 8th 2002

		Health	The University of California did postmortem autopsies on one hundred otherwise healthy young accident victims, they found that 80 percent had 'serious lung abnormalities' and 27 percent had 'severe lesions on their lungs.' Asphalt Nation Jane Kay

			Italian researchers have found that traffic pollution reduces sperm quality in young and middle-aged men. A study of 170 men, half of whom were tollbooth workers, showed that those with high exposure to exhaust gasses had "poorer sperm quality. "Traffic 'damages' male fertility" BBC April 30th 2003

			Science News online recently stated that a direct link between exposure to vehicular emissions (smog) is associated with an increased chance of suffering a heart attack. The study found that approximately 3/4 of all heart attack victims were either in traffic at the time or had recently been in traffic. Associations with stress were ruled out by the equal susceptibility of public transit riders. Smog Clogs Arteries: Pollution does lasting harm to blood vessels David Shiga Science News Online also inThe New England Journal of Medicine

	© Andy Singer	Income	Americans devote 20-40% of their income to automobile transportation. Transportation Tidbits University of Montana

		Justice	Mere months after Honda advertised its air-cleansing LEV (Low Emissions Vehicle) Accord, with a "Mr. Clean" muscleman declaring "you are what you drive," the Justice Department and the EPA fined the company $l2.6 million for falsifying test results on said clean air. Asphalt Nation Jane Kay

		Land Management	New homes on virgin soil produce a net cost [to taxpayers] of $700-2200 per dwelling at 5 units per acre. The American Farmland Trust

		Law	Between 2000-2002, 580 pedestrians were killed in fatal auto [crashes] in New York City. During that span, only 80 people were indicted for criminally negligent homicide or vehicular manslaughter - the laws used most to punish killer drivers. 'State Spares the Rod for those who Kill with Cars' New York Daily News Dec. 29, 2003 Transportation Alternatives

		Military	“Shell [petroleum] operations still impossible unless ruthless military operations are undertaken for smooth economic activities to commence." Nigerian military officer Paul Okuntimo 1998 confidential note to the Nigerian Government

		New York	New York State motorists pay $4.5 billion annually in users fees…..All levels of government….spend $6.9 billion annually on road construction and maintenance, driver and vehicle licensing, road-related police and fire services and other highway expenditures in New York State." This results in a driver subsidy of $2.4 billion a year. Komanoff Energy Associates Consulting funded by the Tri-State Transportation Campaign quoted in New York Newsday Marh 29, 1994

		Obesity	The heads of three royal medical colleges issued an unprecedented warning on February 11 about the rising epidemic of obesity. Obesity rates have ….quadrupled for men in the past 20 years. "We have got to remove counter-productive messages, like the assumption it is unsafe to go out of the house and play," said Dr. Penny Gibson of the Royal College of Pediatrics. "Children need designated play areas, streets without cars and the opportunity to exercise and play at school." The Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health The Faculty of Public Health

		Oil	Richard Cheney’s oil company, Halliburton Oil, secretly rebuilt the oil fields in Iraq after they were bombed in 1991. They and five other U.S. companies have been buying Iraqi oil at low prices ever since, making Iraq America’s 2nd largest Middle Eastern oil supplier. London Financial Times 2000

		Oppression	In a legal filing with an investigating magistrate, lawyers representing a group of Burmese workers have accused French energy giant TotalFinaElf of holding workers against their will and imposing forced labor upon workers. BBC

		Psychology	Driving is a regulated activity, cars and trucks have powerful engines capable of going faster than what is allowed – ever. Drivers are punished for violating these regulations. This imposition arouses a rebellious streak in many people. Dealing with stress and pressure in the vehicle, Taxonomy of Driving Behavior: Affective, Cognitive, Sensorimotor Dr. Leon James and Dr. Diane Nahl University of Hawaii Oct. 2002

		Pedestrians	In 2005, 4,881 pedestrians were unnecessarily killed in automobile 'accidents.' USA Today

		Quality of Life	Many communities have no sidewalks, and no place to walk to, which is bad for public safety as well as for our nation's physical health. It has become impossible in such settings for neighbors to greet one another on the street, or for kids to walk to their own nearby schools. A gallon of gas can be used up just driving to get a gallon of milk. All of these add up to more stress for already overstressed family lives. former Vice President Al Gore in a speech announcing the Administration's new Smart Growth Proposals January 11th 1999.

		Religion	The moral responsibility of road users, both drivers and pedestrians, derives from the obligation to respect the Fifth and Seventh Commandments: "Thou shalt not kill" and "Thou shalt not steal". The gravest sins against human life, deriving from the Fifth Commandment, are suicide and murder, but this commandment also requires respect for one's own and other people's physical and mental wellbeing. Careless absent-mindedness and negligence are acts that go against such commandments. . . The Vatican

		Road Rage	The symbolic portrayal of the car has tied it to individual freedom, promoting a mental attitude of defensiveness and territoriality. The result is that motorists feel invaded while they drive, lulling them into a hostile mental state, even to warlike postures and aggressive reactions. Dealing with stress and pressure in the vehicle, Taxonomy of Driving Behavior: Affective, Cognitive, Sensorimotor Dr. Leon James and Dr. Diane Nahl University of Hawaii Oct. 2002

		Salt	The most common pollutant to soil and water near the roadside is sodium chloride. It is used as a de-icer to melt snow on roads, highways and sidewalks. Sodium ions are carried by the plant into growing sections and can accumulate to toxic levels. Department of Defense Urban Forestry Manual August 1996 University of New Hampshire Technology Transfer Center

		SUVs	According to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, while sport utility vehicles account for just over 1/3 of all registered U.S. passenger vehicles, collisions involving SUVs account for over half of all fatalities in light vehicle crashes. Is It Wise to Purchase an SUV? Rachel Alexander December 10th 2001

	©Greenpeace	Terrorism	Congressional leaders criticized the Bush administration for not being more aggressive in pressing the Saudi government, particularly since 15 of the 19 hijackers in the Sept. 11 attacks were Saudi citizens…..”It has been a longstanding policy of the United States government over several decades that if the kingdom [Saudi Arabia] helps us with oil and helps us with the Middle East we won't ask them about their internal issues." said William Wechsler Saudi Arabia is Called Slow in Helping Stem the Flow of Cash to Militants Jeff Gerth and Judith Miller New York Times December 1, 2002

		Theft	The effectiveness of many [antitheft and tracking systems] is questionable. The sensitivity of audible alarms to touch or movement, for example, provokes a "boy who cried wolf" reaction. When a car alarm goes off, people tend not to react because the alarms activate so frequently for reasons other than actual theft. HLDI studies show no overall reduction in theft losses for vehicles with such alarms. Insurance Industry Analyses and Prevention of Motor Vehicle Theft Kim Hazelbaker Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI)

		Traffic	"The average rush-hour driver wasted more than two full days-about 51 hours - sitting in traffic in 2001. The cost of this congestion is approximately $69.5 billion in wasted time and gas. Texas Transportation Institute

	Urban Planning	30-50% of urban American land is buried beneath a layer of asphalt. 'Getting There' Stephen Goddard Quoted in Asphalt Nation

©Greenpeace	VOCs	High levels of VOC (volotile organic compounds) of up to 64,000 micrograms per cubic meter have been found to last 2-3 months after automobile manufacture. Humans exposed to less than half of this dosage have reported ill effects within minutes. Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation

	Water	The National Research Council has reported that about 29 million gallons of oil enter the oceans around North America each year as a result of human activities. Of that, the largest share, 15.6 million gallons, comes from rivers and runoff, largely from such things as street runoff, industrial waste, municipal wastewater and wastewater from refineries. In addition, 1.6 million gallons of the pollution comes from recreational vessels, where two-stroke engines that mix oil a and gas are often used in personal watercraft and as outboard engines. National Research Council U.S. Water News Online - June 2002 quoted in EV World December 15, 2002

	Zzzz	20% of all vehicle crashes are attributed to the driver falling asleep at the wheel. British Medical Journal

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