[sustran] Re: Transit pass - Best Weapon Against Climate Change?

[Todd Edelman, Green Idea Factory]

I suspect laboured a bit over this... "our suggestion for fighting 
climate change is better than theirs" thing because it might be 
considered divisive... pollution is pollution, after all...but I think 
the compact fluorescent light bulb thing needs a little bit of a reality 
check.


- T

 Lee Schipper wrote:
> The transit savings are real as long as no new buses need to be put on line. Until the late 1990s (and from the late 1970s), the AVERAGe Transit bus emitted more CO2/pass-km than the AVERAGE car because buses were mostly empty while cars made admirable improvements. Since the run up of oil prices, however transit ridership per bus or train has picked up admirably (albeit tiny compared with Europe) while car emissions per passenger km have stagnated.
>
>
> Now let's look at the numbers. 20 pounds of CO2 (call it 8 kg) is what you emit in a car of 250 gm/km moving 32 km, which sounds like an average commute for an American. 
>
> On the other hand, a more efficient refrigerator also saves capital for power production and saves peak power.. and we can expect that 50 mn more efficient refrigerators and other improvements to our 120 million households over the next ten years will add up to far more, because (sadly) we don't really expect 50 million daily commuters to switch to transit, at least not for a while.
>
> In other words, big deal. We need it all! 
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: sustran-discuss-bounces+schipper=wri.org at list.jca.apc.org [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+schipper=wri.org at list.jca.apc.org] On Behalf Of Todd Edelman, Green Idea Factory
> Sent: Tuesday, October 16, 2007 4:21 PM
> To: Carfree Cities; Global 'South' Sustainable Transport
> Subject: [sustran] Transit pass - Best Weapon Against Climate Change?
>
> The new report released by the American Public Transportation 
> Association makes some interesting comparisons about various ways to 
> reduce carbon dioxide emissions and other greenhouse gases.
>
> Excerpt:
>
> "While it is very important to employ environmentally-friendly household 
> activities, commuting by public transportation makes a more substantial 
> impact. An individual switching to public transit can reduce their daily 
> carbon emissions by 20 pounds; that's more than 4,800 pounds in a year. 
> This is far greater than the many actions people are being encouraged to 
> take, for instance;
>
>     *
>
>       Home weatherizing and adjusting the thermostat for heating and
>       cooling saves 2,847 pounds of carbon per year. Transit use saves
>       almost twice the carbon.
>
>     *
>
>       Replacing five incandescent bulbs to lower wattage compact
>       fluorescent lamps saves 445 pounds of CO2 per year. Transit use
>       saves more than ten times the CO2.
>
>     *
>
>       Replacing an older refrigerator freezer with a high efficient one
>       saves 335 pounds of CO2 per year. Taking public transportation
>       saves more than fourteen times the carbon."
>
> See here: <http://greenideafactory.blogspot.com/2007/10/blog-post.html>
>
>   


-- 
--------------------------------------------

Todd Edelman
Director
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