Can We Live Without Oil?

[kayell]

http://www.futurenet.org/article.asp?ID=1009
Getting There on Less
by Guy Dauncey

"Americans are addicted to the joys of the open road. But the joys come at too high a price and we’re about to hit bottom. We can get around without oil. Here’s the 12-step program to do it.

snip

1 stay home

We can divert 5 percent of our trips by combining errands or not doing them in the first place. Thanks to the internet, many jobs can be done from home or in a local telework center, either full time or one day a week. Grocery shopping can also be done over the Internet, with home delivery by truck being a far more efficient use of fuel than individual shopping.

5 percent less fuel needed


2 walk

We can do 5 percent of our trips by foot; ancient people walked all the way out of Africa and around the world. Children could walk to school, instead of being chauffeured by their parents. Many people could walk to work and enjoy the exercise. We could redesign our cities and suburbs to make walking a pleasure, and rejuvenate the suburbs by developing local neighborhood centers, creating places where people could shop, have coffee, and meet their neighbors—all by foot.

So far, we need 10 percent less fuel


3 cycle

Fifteen percent of our trips can be done by bike. Some people say cycling is the most efficient use of energy ever invented. In Davis, California, 80 percent of the streets have bike lanes, and 20 to 25 percent of all local trips are by bike. Imagine a world designed for bicycles, with safe bike lanes, off-road bikeways, bikes with trailers, electric bikes, and folding bikes that are easy to take on a bus or train. In some communities, as much as 40 percent of trips might be made by bicycle. In others, where it snows in winter or there are more hills, the number might be 10 percent.

We’ve saved 25 percent so far"

More

[bluedonkey]

1. I miss riding my bike

I never even had a driver license til I moved here.Used to walk,bike or took the streetcar.
We hardly have any bike lanes here,but if I go out early in the morning I should be safe.Yes,I still have my folding bike,a little rusty,but I can work on that!