[sustran] Re: WBCSD & theauto industry - part of the solution, but how?

[Eric Bruun]

I think that Lee is on to something. Maybe the main reason for this study is
to be able to say that, thanks to efforts initiated by this study, the
damage from growing car use will not be as bad as it would have been
otherwise.

I want to raise a few other points which I think are relevant:

1) There is massive overcapacity worldwide in the auto industry. There is
intense pressure to increase car sales. The situation will only get worse,
as China probably plans on trying to export huge numbers of cars and put
some of the higher wage countries out of the business.

2) Why should any developing country be asked to conserve when the US, which
has 4 percent of the world's population, consumes 25 percent of the world's
gasoline? There isn't much hope of persuasion until the US starts to
conserve.

3) Technology oriented people like to focus on fuel efficiency of vehicles.
But this is roughly half the story. The other half is containing sprawl and
not building auto-dependent communties. The US is such a fuel glutton
because it has both very large vehicles AND weak land use planning.

4) Consuming land to accommodate autos is especially damaging near most of
the great port/transportation hub cities. The reason they were located there
in the first place is because of the superior farm land nearby or up river.
So, low-density development also eliminates some of the world's best
farmland. I give as an example Philadelphia, where I live. There are tens of
thousands of empty lots and abandoned houses in the city proper, while
McMansions are being built on rich farm land in the surrounding Delaware
River basin.

Eric Bruun



----- Original Message -----
From: "Lee Schipper" <SCHIPPER at wri.org>
To: <eric.britton at ecoplan.org>; <WorldTransport at yahoogroups.com>
Cc: <Sustran-discuss at jca.ax.apc.org>
Sent: Wednesday, July 07, 2004 8:17 AM
Subject: [sustran] Re: [New Mobility/WorldTransport Forum] WBCSD & theauto
industry - part of the solution, but how?


> I was a strong supporter of the idea of the WBCSD, helping informally to
> set it up when I was at the IEA and then Shell Int'l. Long conversations
> with organizers at both auto and oil companies, potential consultants.
> Organized 1 of the expert forums (Mexico City, last year) and
> participated in a few others.
> I will read the material and report back here -- rumors fly that the
> final report is weak -- seems like the fuel companies are very agressive
> about clean fuels, which is the easy part, but the car makers are wont
> to say "less cars than otherwise", and that's really what all gazes into
> the future are all about. But let me look carefully first.
>
> >>> eric.britton at ecoplan.org 7/7/2004 6:30:24 AM >>>
> Wednesday, July 07, 2004, Paris, France, Europe
>
>
>
> Our old friend and colleague, Ken Orski, formerly the original
> caretaker
> of the urban transport environment of the OECD's environment unit
> years
> ago when it was just getting started, has just kindly shared  with us
> an
> abstract of and commentary on the just published report of the WBCSD.
> His closing phrase caught my attention, and I would like to invite
> commentary on it here.  He writes:
>
>
>
> "While it is too early to predict the report's longer term influence,
> the sponsoring companies  clearly hope that their initiative will, at
> the very least, help to establish the auto industry's sincerity and
> good
> faith in trying to come to grips with the impact of its activities on
> the environment."
>
>
>
> Now, I for one get no great pleasure in bashing the auto or energy
> industry - indeed I think it's a pretty dumb and counter-productive
> thing to do since one way or another they are also part of the
> solution
> (indeed they are important clients for my personal consulting work as
> I
> keep trying to edge them toward a more truly proactive approach in
> helping create and advance the New Mobility Agenda - I am not that
> reassured about either  (a) the usefulness or (b) the sincerity and
> good
> faith - precisely! - of their participation in this particular
> exercise.
>
>
>
>
> I have my own thoughts on this as you can imagine, but I would be
> interested to hear what others of you might have to say.  Indeed,
> isn't
> the main issue behind this from our shared perspectives here is that
> we
> need to make them part of the solution.  There can be no doubt about
> that.  The question of course is: will they do it without firm
> leadership from the public policy end.  And if so, what form should
> that
> take?  (I attach to this note our short  original 'mission statement'
> for The Commons which goes back now to several decades.  Still pretty
> much the way it looks around here.)
>
>
>
> Eric Britton
>
> The Commons, Paris
>
>
>
>
>
> " The Commons: Increasing the uncomfort zone for hesitant
> administrators
> and politicians, pioneering new concepts for activists, community
> groups, entrepreneurs and business, and through our joint efforts,
> energy and personal choices,  placing them and ourselves firmly on the
> path to a more sustainable and more just society."
>
>
>
>
>
>
>