This and that for your Thursday reading. – Cory Neudorf argues that a pandemic is the last time when we can afford to prioritize abstract individual interests over the collective good, while Alexander Wong writes that vaccination is a textbook example of a way in which parents can protect children
Continue readingTag: Transportation
Things Are Good: Electric Public Transportation is the Future, Not Cars
Politicians and car makers will often tout that the future of sustainable transportation lies in electric vehicles. Let’s be clear: cars won’t save us. In fact, cars are responsible for a lot of death on our streets and for supply chains that cause great harm to the environment. Instead, electric
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Afternoon Links
Assorted content to start your week. – Bruce Deachman discusses the new “normal” we’re approaching in which COVID continues to be a threat to people’s health on an ongoing basis. – Nancy MacDonald highlights the nonstop catastrophes facing British Columbia as record heat is followed in short order by unprecedented flooding.
Continue readingThings Are Good: Glenfiddich Whisks Whisky Waste into Fuel
The whisky distiller Glenfiddich has converted its fleet of trucks to be powered by waste products from making whisky. It’s a classic bio waste to bio gas setup. The trucks were converted from diesel to biodiesel engines and the waste from distilling was gathered and converted to biodiesel. With such
Continue readingThings Are Good: Make Believe Ideas and the City
The mayor of Toronto, like other 20th century mayors, believes in mystical solutions to urban problems. In the 21st century smart mayors are shedding the myths and make-believe thinking around urban design. In forward looking places we see neighbourhoods made livable and large swaths of land made into the human
Continue readingThings Are Good: Driving Kills the Planet, Here’s How to End the Obsession with Cars
Smoking is bad for your health, yet people still smoke. Driving is bad for your health, yet people still drive. Over the last half century we’ve worked hard to help people quit smoking and deter people from engaging in the behaviour in the first place. It’s time we help people
Continue readingThings Are Good: Battery Electric Freight Trains can Help Reduce Emissions
Trains are great for efficiently moving freight long distances and are used the world over. Many regions already have all electric rail systems, but in North America electric adoption hasn’t happened. Historically, this has been due to the installation and maintenance costs for the vast distances of overhead electric wires.
Continue readingThings Are Good: Leaded Gas for Cars Impossible to Buy Globally
After decades of effort by environmentalists leaded gasoline for use in automobiles is impossible to buy anywhere on the planet. Last month Algeria ended sales for leaded gasoline which marked the end of the dangerous fuel for consumers according to the UN Environment Programme. All gas burning is bad for
Continue readingThings Are Good: This Drone is Hitting the Rails
In order for train travel to be safe the rails the trains ride on need to be of a certain quality. You don’t want the equivalent of a pot hole on rails. In order to maintain good tracks workers need to shut down the rail line and physically go out
Continue readingThings Are Good: It’s Time to Destroy Highways to Build Cities
People make cities an interesting place to be. It’s the people that produce culture and economic prosperity, yet many cities have highways going right through them. These highways make the city worse in every regard. Now, cities in America will be getting funding to repair the cities from the damage
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – CBC News reports on the research which is just starting to systematically identify and treat the worrisome symptoms of long COVID. Gabriel Scally weighs in on the dangers of the UK’s choice to end any public health response to COVID-19 even as the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Sarah Rieger reports on the experts pointing out that Jason Kenney (among other right-wing demagogues) is wrong in bleating incessantly that the pandemic is over. And Yasmine Ghania reports that many Saskatchewan residents are far more responsible than their government (or the
Continue readingThings Are Good: Ending the Gender Gap in Transportation
There is a gender gap in our cities and it’s all thanks to car-centric design. Everybody knows that cars destroy urban centers and cause a lot of harm to public health. but you may not have thought of the impact cars have on gender. As cities look to modernize themselves
Continue readingThings Are Good: Removing Highways Improves Cities
Urban highways occupy a lot of space that can otherwise be used for parks, housing, offices, or anything else that produces economic benefits. The post war highway building boom in North America destroyed communities (in the USA highways were built to purposefully isolate black communities), fuelled car-dependent suburban developments, and
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Bryan Eneas reports on the discovery of 751 unmarked graves near a single residential school in Saskatchewan. And Samantha Beattie reports on a Catholic priest’s attempt to justify the genocide committed through the residential school system, while John Paul Tasker reports on
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Electric awesomeness. Harley Livewire.
LiveWire Electric Drive Motorcycle – Harley-Davidson USA It’s beautiful, it’s fast, it’s a Harley – and it’s electric. Instant torque from an electric motor means great acceleration. An electric motorcycle with solar panels in your yard to charge it, is also far less expensive to drive and much easier on
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Jennifer Yang and Kenyon Wallace discuss how the Delta variant makes the COVID-19 pandemic far more dangerous than it had been before – even as far too many governments barge ahead with the elimination of public health measures. The Globe and Mail’s
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Adam Miller writes about the race between vaccinations and COVID-19 variants. The Strategic COVID-19 Pandemic Committee of Edmonton Zone Medical Staff Association highlights why it’s reckless to be insisting on an end to public health regulations (and concurrent encouragement of potential superspreader events).
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Max Fawcett writes about Jason Kenney’s reckless wager of countless lives in the unlikely hope that a Stampede can save his political hide. And Bartley Kives writes that while Manitoba may finally be seeing case counts drop following its devastating third wave,
Continue readingThings Are Good: Bustling Bike Boom Brought on by Pandemic Continues
Riding bikes has gotten more popular over the course of the pandemic due to the fact it’s a safe outdoor activity. Popularity of commuting by bicycle has also increased thanks to initiatives done throughout many cities to increase infrastructure supporting bicycling. All of this has led to demand for bicycles
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