[sustran] Re: Hybrid cars- and Diesel Greenwash

[mpotter]

Congratulations on your efforts and successes, in New Zealand  Olly.  
More forceful encouragement of truth-in-advertising in the automotive 
domain is long overdue.  Unfortunately, for those countries more in the 
thrall of this massive economic sector, such successes may be harder to 
come by.

Re the comments about  being tough on rail from the irate gentleman 
from Florida (bear in mind this is one of the most car-dependent places 
on the Planet)

I suspect that in the highly unlikely event that  rail should ever 
become as globally environmentally and socially destructive as the 
automobile, lots more people would be attacking rail.  The automobile 
attracts fire partly because of the scope and severity of its 
consequences.  The reasons for the swift and generally effective 
counter reactions to the  suggestion that more environmentally sound 
alternatives to the automobile be encouraged can be found in the fact 
that the automobile, highway construction, petrol and allied industries 
butter far more peoples' bread  than do those  associated with rail.

RE advertising, rail advertising is almost non-existent in the US, and 
miniscule in most other countries(at least the ones that I've been to), 
while automobile advertising is nearly  ubiquitous every country  I've 
been to save Myanmar.

That said, here in Fukuoka (pop 1.3 million, metro 3.5 million) rail 
and subway advertising, limited though it is, in some cases does 
(admirably) include CO2 output and passenger kilometer energy 
efficiency  comparisons with automobiles. The trains here are 
overwhelmingly electrified, which of course has an influence on CO2.   
For rapid transit vs the automobile, given the full subways and the 
endless AM procession of single-occupant cars here (about 92% one 
occupant), if anything the figures presented by rapid transit here seem 
understated. Adding to the environmental and social costs  the costs 
and consequences of paving over land for parking and streets would tip 
the balance even further in favor of rail here.  Rail does tend to be 
well utilized and  well-implemented here.  I.e., the basic shopping and 
other needs of commuters are able to be met in the immediate environs 
of the stations, high density neighborhoods with limited parking 
frequently radiate out from stations.  This  makes difficult direct 
comparison with countries like the US and Philippines, for example,  
where rail implementations are sparse and frequently abominable.

As for the notion walking or cycling are more environmentally 
destructive than automobile use, this is a self-evidently ludicrous 
proposition.  I spent 19 years in southern California as a driver, and 
am now on my sixteenth year as a transportation cyclist in Fukuoka, and 
I can tell the difference in both my bank account and my waistline.  
For envrionmental, financial and physical health, the bicycle is the 
clear winner.

With fuel importing Japan spending 9% of GNP on transportation, 
transportation infrastructure, and assorted costs and the USA 18%, 
(figures from Holtz's Asphalt Nation)  the difference would seem to 
hold on a national level as well.

Respectfully,
Mark Potter
millennium3
Fukuoka, Japan


On Apr 21, 2006, at 10:04 AM, Daryl Oster wrote:

>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Olly Powell
>> In New Zealand I filed a formal complaint with the  advertising 
>> standards
>> authority against Toyota for making exagerated claims about their 
>> petrol-
>> electric greenwash mobile.
>
> Olly,
> What about the exaggerated clams of rail advocates? Do you go after 
> them
> with equal zeal?   Or would that defile your dinner plate?
>
>> They were running much more insulting claims in Australian media
>> (Australian issue of National Geographic) trying to
>> compare the same car to a bicycle.
>> In the Australian case I could do nothing as their
>> equivalent body does not deal with issues of "truthufullness"  and is
>> toothless anyway.
>
> It is a shame there are not tough laws requiring truthful 
> representation of
> any and all transportation proposals to government.  Trains and rail 
> systems
> should be the focus, as they are misrepresented to the greatest degree.
>
>
>> I had similar success with a Honda advert, which had to be modified to
>> remove the words "environmentally friendly".
>
> I have submitted proof showing that the per passenger kilometer (or 
> mile)
> ecology footprint of a bike or walking is greater than for small 
> economical
> cars for conducting pure transportation.  You and others have not 
> submitted
> evidence refuting this.
>
>
>> Lately there is a lot of nonsense being said about "clean" diesel,
>> including on this list.
>> Nobody bothers to point out that Euro IV Diesel standards are 
>> considerably
>> lower than Euro IV petrol standards,  and that the nitrous oxide 
>> emissions
>
>> of most European Diesels are so high they could not be sold in 
>> California.
>
>> In NZ our new "clean" diesel is 50ppm sulphur, making the European 
>> figures
>
>> somewhat worse than they would be in
>> Europe.
>
> Most trains are Diesel, and not of the clean variety.  The emissions 
> per
> passenger mile for typical Diesel trains are worse than for the clean 
> Diesel
> cars and much worse than the hybrids you are attacking.  While Diesels 
> emit
> more NOX, the hydrocarbons and carcinogens are substantially less (if 
> low
> cost and effective electrostatic particulate filters are used).
>
>>
>> Personally I have no intention of ever purchasing any such trash.  My 
>> six
>> bicycles take
>> up most of the space inmy shed.
>>
>> Olly
>
>
> Why SIX bicycles?  What kind of car do you own, and how does it 
> compare with
> the Toyota Prius in sustainability measures?  How many miles do YOU 
> travel
> in a year - and what is the share for each mode, including air travel?
>
> Daryl Oster
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>
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