Rising fuel prices will make North American commuting more expensive and it’s already a frustrating activity.
Our continued rampant consumption (of cars, fuel, manufactured goods) will only increase the congestion commuters already face day in, day out.
Then, related to the above frustrations, there’s China and growing pollution problems there.
Why mention China in a post about commuting?
Because, when we’re not driving our shiny black SUV or pickup to work, we’re driving it to a big box store and parking our soon-to-be XXL body behind a shopping cart the size of a ’64 Volkswagen. You think commuting costs and congestion are frustrating. Try climate change on for size.
In the book You Are Here, T.M. Kostigen shares his thoughts in a more polite manner.
He writes, “To reduce its air pollution to be on par with stable climate levels, China will have to reduce carbon emissions by 80 per cent - a seemingly impossible task. But there are alternatives that can be sought - cleaner energy, cleaner coal even. And then there’s our participation in this mess.”
See? “Our participation...” Very polite.
He continues, “About 25 percent of the pollution - and 35 percent of carbon dioxide emissions - in China comes from manufacturing goods for export to Western countries. Interestingly, as much as 25 percent of the pollution in Los Angeles comes from the emissions of coal plants - coal plants in China, that is - the winds carry it across the sea.” pg. 64
Many North Americans already know about the links between their commuting (and some job-related activities, driving to the mall, and many areas of consumption) and climate change. (As a result some people are travelling more kilometers/miles on bicycles. Some are decluttering, buying less stuff. Some are car-pooling, taking public transit. Still, carbon emissions in many countries continue to rise except when they are in the grips of an economic recession and rising unemployment.)
Some North Americans also know that when the US economy is humming the air quality in Ontario goes downhill due to the emissions from coal-fired power plants in the Ohio Valley, south of my home in London and Lake Erie. But it was a surprise for me to learn that China is not only exporting many goods of questionable quality to the US but their smog and pollution as well.
About the goods and the smog Kostigen writes, “We (in the US) are contributing to our own demise and health hazards by the products that we buy and the choices we make. The United States is China’s second largest trade partner. Americans buy more than $300 billion worth of goods each year that are made in China.”
Of course, with a much smaller population, Canada purchases far fewer goods from China. Still, as we pull items off shelves in local Wal-Marts, Dollar Stores and Canadian Tire stores, it’s instructive to know we are contributing our fair share to coal-fired production in China, the increase in toxic pollution in the Canadian north, the erosion of shorelines in Inuit villages and the melting of ice shelves in the Canadian Arctic.
Unfortunately, in my opinion, most North Americans are at present fully committed to commuting in cars and will be for some time. A car’s comfort and convenience wins the day.
Most will continue to shop until they drop and only feel a mild to irritating sense of frustration because roads are congested and costs of travelling are high.
["Measure the 'cool' factor vs the 'warming' factor."]
Even as congestion and costs grow in the future - and they surely will - most North Americans will hang onto their cars like an addict to his drug of choice.
While commuting and shopping, should congestion and the price of fuel be our chief concerns?
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Please click here to read In Cars PT 2: “Traffic congestion should be the least of our worries”
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