29th Street Ballroom
Austin's Green Programs Have Problems
RECEIVED Tue., May 29, 2007
Dear Editor,
Austin's green programs have two big problems: They leave out the simplest, cleanest, cheapest solutions, and they leave out poor people. The city of Austin will help you buy a hybrid car, an electric lawn mower, an electric bicycle, or a less-polluting air conditioner. But you can't get help with buying an ordinary bicycle, a human-powered mower, or an ordinary electric fan. I guess the people in charge think that everyone can already afford these things or that no one uses them. All of these cheaper items are greener than the city-subsidized gadgets. What gives?
Austin still doesn't acknowledge walking as a means of transportation. Most Austin streets lack sidewalks. The city actively encourages homeowners to block the pedestrian right-of-way with landscaping. Austin regularly closes streets so that the well-off can pay to run marathons. But we never just close streets so that everyone can walk without paying, as they do on Sundays in Bogotá, Colombia.
The “green” articles in the Chronicle [Green Issue, May 25] suggest that the greenest thing a person can do is buy something, preferably a Prius. But really, being green is a matter of doing less. Don't buy a new car; drive much less. Don't fly on airplanes. Spend your vacation here in town or within bicycling distance.
Walking, even in pedestrian-despising Austin, is not only fun and interesting but cures all sorts of aches and pains. There are sights worth seeing all over town. You don't need to zoom to have fun.
If we want to be green, we need to learn to value free resources, such as our own human power. Until we can do this, the green talk is just so much hype.
Austin's green programs have two big problems: They leave out the simplest, cleanest, cheapest solutions, and they leave out poor people. The city of Austin will help you buy a hybrid car, an electric lawn mower, an electric bicycle, or a less-polluting air conditioner. But you can't get help with buying an ordinary bicycle, a human-powered mower, or an ordinary electric fan. I guess the people in charge think that everyone can already afford these things or that no one uses them. All of these cheaper items are greener than the city-subsidized gadgets. What gives?
Austin still doesn't acknowledge walking as a means of transportation. Most Austin streets lack sidewalks. The city actively encourages homeowners to block the pedestrian right-of-way with landscaping. Austin regularly closes streets so that the well-off can pay to run marathons. But we never just close streets so that everyone can walk without paying, as they do on Sundays in Bogotá, Colombia.
The “green” articles in the Chronicle [Green Issue, May 25] suggest that the greenest thing a person can do is buy something, preferably a Prius. But really, being green is a matter of doing less. Don't buy a new car; drive much less. Don't fly on airplanes. Spend your vacation here in town or within bicycling distance.
Walking, even in pedestrian-despising Austin, is not only fun and interesting but cures all sorts of aches and pains. There are sights worth seeing all over town. You don't need to zoom to have fun.
If we want to be green, we need to learn to value free resources, such as our own human power. Until we can do this, the green talk is just so much hype.
Yours truly,
Amy Babich
Amy Babich