Drive to change locomotion system
Environmentalists have called on students of
The petition of environmentalists said the change in locomotion system should apply the principle that those who have less in wheels must have more in roads.
It said the new locomotion system must be safe, convenient, inexpensive, collective, efficient, non-congestive, non-pollutive, healthful, described as with wide sidewalks for people who prefer to walk, and have bicycle lanes for those who prefer to use bikes.
Lawyer Antonio Oposa, Jr., environmentalist and University of the Philippines Centennial Awardee for Environmental Conservation and Sustainable Development, said in a forum on “A new Economic Thinking” that the present economical mindset should give importance to the protection and restoration of natural resources.
The petition also addresses the country’s excessive consumption of oil.
In his lecture, Oposa mentioned that every day, the
He stressed that there is no longer much oil that can be taken from the ground today. Oil is a carbon material that took tens of millions of years to make.
“The sheer cost of oil today, coupled with the adverse atmospheric impact of carbon dioxide released from its burning, must force us to sit back and think,” he said.
“People should understand first that resources are limited. The Environment isn’t just about the birds and the bees; it is about sources of life which if not protected, might be the end of it,” Oposa added.
“The answer lies in a multi-modal locomotion system – walking, biking, water transport, and a return to the rail-based collective transport systems. The age of individual transportation system is on its way out. With our ongoing ‘gas pains’, we have no quarrel with carmakers. But we must break it into our thick skulls that cars will eventually become irrelevant.” —Jessica Ann Pareja/LPM
- Latest
- Trending
