Posted on 09/22/2005 10:32:34 AM PDT by logician2u
If You Think Life Without Cars Is Easy, Remember the Big Easy
News Release
by Jody Clarke
September 22, 2005
Washington, DC, September 22, 2005 -- Organizers of today's 'World Car-Free Day' are promoting supposedly more sustainable transportation systems. But according to the Competitive Enterprise Institute, lack of access to cars can be deadly -- as demonstrated by the experience of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, where cars, rather than mass transit, were the key to evacuating hundreds of thousands of people.
"It was a lack of access to cars that led tens of thousands of people to remain in the city," says Sam Kazman, head of CEI's Automobility Project. "Many people may well choose a car-free lifestyle, but the notion that government should impose it in the name of sustainability is crazy. As Hurricane Katrina showed, it can be disastrous as well."
Organizers of World Car-Free Day claim it is being celebrated this year by more than 1400 cities and towns in the U.S. and other countries. Their website poses a simple question: "What is life like in communities that are not dependent on the automobile, and what are the benefits of such a way of life?"
But New Orleans' experience has triggered a reexamination of the dangers of such an approach. In an article on his Green Economics blog, economist Matthew Kahn writes: "More of New Orleans' urban poor would have survived the disaster if they had had car access." (One Lesson from New Orleans? More Cars for the Urban Poor.)
As Thoreau Institute analyst Randy O'Toole points out, "Those who fervently wish for car-free cities should take a closer look at New Orleans. The tragedy of New Orleans isn't primarily due to racism or government incompetence, though both played a role. The real cause is automobility -- or more precisely to the lack of it." (Lack of Automobility Key to New Orleans Tragedy)
For more on CEI's work on automobility, see "Cars, Women, and Minorities: The Democratization of Mobility in America," by Alan Pisarski; and "Car-Free Days? No, Thank You," by Waldemar Hanasz.
But FREE-CAR day would be.
:)
FREE-CAR Day would be so much smarter!!
So, I should go down to the garage and, what, shoot my car?
No, I think they want you to turn it loose, like free-range chickens.
I think I'm going out for a nice long drive tonight. This is kind of like the Great American Meat-Out, where I always go out and buy myself a nice thick steak for dinner.
Wow. A free-range car! I wonder if they taste like chicken?
That's a good graphic. Madison Ave could hardly do better.
What is the Great American Meat-Out, anyway? Something sponsored by the poultry industry maybe? Or vegetarians?
Yea and if you don't have a car you are just that much more reliant on mass transportation. Having to bet my life on whether the city bus or train gets there is too much to gamble. I'll continue to drive my big old gas guzzler.
Earth day? The only day I litter.
(the thought of burning garbage has occured to me, but that just stinks up the yard)
Someone who goes along with this B/S ought to advise Sammy that he has it wrong.
It was not that those unfortunate Democrat Party chattel in Louseyana had no "access" to cars. It was that they do not have the ability to fend for themselves.
Dimocrat farmer Nagin forgot to bring the cows into the barn before he fled with his family to Dallas.
Just hearing this makes me want to gas up the car and take a road trip. Gee, I wonder if SUV drivers Arianna Huffington and Algore are supporters of this travesty. They just want to h'ep the little people, we're so lucky they're looking out for us...
I like your idea! Free-car day would be great.
Where is the oil/stocks thread today? Looks like we are not sufficiently panicked at this time, although earlier we were getting started.
Unfortunately, they are made by Hewlett Packard, and the gas cartridges cost $300.00 each and are only refillable by HP. :-)
They want to live like Indians?
These anti-car people are nutso for bicycles.
No, Sam, it was lack of planning, and the failure of the Governor and mayor to issue a manditory evacuation and utilize over 500 publicly owned buses that led to tens of thousands remaining in the city.
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