Oh, those crazy French
They’ve set standards in fashion, cuisine, literature, and the visual arts. Now they want to do something to improve their cities. And how long will it take America to catch up? Well, seeing as we’re in love with our mobility more than our environment, I’m guessing never.
This story is great. I especially like the take the mayor of London has on SUV’s:
The proposal, certain to be opposed by motoring groups, follows similar remarks by the mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, who in May month described SUVs as “bad for London – completely unnecessary” and called their owners “complete idiots.”
And here’s a statistic that probably applies to American’s suburban commandos pretty well:
Britain’s Guardian newspaper reported a survey showing that just one in eight 4x4 drivers had driven their car off-road, and six in 10 never take it out of town.
Morons. Gas prices be damned; we still like our big vehicles. They’re starting to catch on in Canada. The difference?
Fuel costs have a greater effect in Canada than in the United States, where gasoline prices are lower, Gomes observed.
He said typical Canadian households, despite on average owning smaller cars than Americans, spend more than three per cent of disposable income filling up the fuel tank, compared with 2.5 per cent in the United States.
We’re subsidizing ourselves into a smoggy, car-choked future. It is perhaps not as sexy as what the French have done for the world, but we’re making our mark.
