The city of North Vancouver, British Columbia passed a law this week that mandates climate change warning stickers be applied to gas pumps in the city. The vote makes the city the first in the world to implement such a law. The City Council still has to approve designs for the stickers, but a city staff report recommended including messages such as “Get $5,000 toward a purchase of a new electric car” or “Idling your vehicle for more than 10 seconds wastes more gas than restarting your engine” on the stickers.
“The message is that burning fossil fuels causes climate change and … to add a positive spin, here are some tips when using your automobile on how to make it more fuel efficient,” North Vancouver Mayor Darrell Mussatto told the CBC.
The effort to get the stickers on gas pumps is being spearheaded by a Toronto-based group called Our Horizon. Rob Shirkey, executive director of the group, told ThinkProgress that the main point of the stickers isn’t to get people to completely stop driving — it’s to change their way of thinking about climate change.
Hey, it worked with cigarettes.
And remember just like cigarette companies oil companies also hired their own scientists to spread misinformation, and worked to downplay any science which demonstrated safety concerns associated with their product.
Personally I would love to see these all over the world.
North Vancouver Mayor Darrell Mussatto told the CBC.
ReplyDeleteHere is the original CBC article, from last Tuesday, Nov. 17: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/north-vancouver-climate-change-stickers-gas-pumps-1.3323621
… other Canadian and American cities have come close by supporting similar initiatives, but the City of North Vancouver is the first to make it mandatory.
North Vancouver Mayor Darrell Mussatto said the city hopes to implement the stickers by early next year and will make it mandatory for pumps to have them as part of a business licence.
"The message is that burning fossil fuels causes climate change and … to add a positive spin, here are some tips when using your automobile on how to make it more fuel efficient," he said.
Mussatto said it was important for councillors not to focus on just the harm caused by fossil fuel, but also pragmatic solutions that an ordinary person could implement, such as taking transit or not idling unnecessarily, "I couldn't live without my vehicle, but I can certainly reduce the number of trips I do use it for," he said.
I guess it would benefit my health and earth's health if I walked that mile to get my coffee instead of driving. I can do it!
ReplyDeleteI think this is fabulous!
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting, Gryph
If I were made of money, I would use it to run public service announcements on TV, radio, computers, and billboards, educating people about how to use fuel more efficiently. It truly is amazing how much fuel Americans, and probably everybody everywhere, wastes idling their vehicles, driving faster than 55 mph, and starting too quickly. It's the laws of physics, pure and simple, and very few people stop to think about how their actions affect the planet, their future, and their children and grandchildren's future. Personal convenience rules the day, consequences be damned.
ReplyDeleteGreat Idea! We looked into it after VW screwed us over with the diesel settings, and I can't drive one. I had surgery recently and wear a bone stimulater/ For the duration, I can't risk going out in public NOR drive a Prius nor Leaf. The bone stimulator has a pesky side effect of shutting down pacemakers and electric car engines, and I wouldn't want to be responsible for someone's heart and or car stopping. Some people get migraines and tingling extremities along with diminished reflexes, depending on what type of hybrid electric technology they use. Hopefully this will be a quick recovery and I can get my paws on a volt or Tesla (if the price goes waaaay down).
ReplyDeleteExcellent idea, and you're right, it worked for cigarettes. Knowledge is power.