Stop CO2 in the European Union: Appeal to EU citizens and EU parliament to introduce free European public transit
Posted on | November 12, 2009 by Benjamin Dovecar
Each day, nature produces billions of tones of CO2 which is then reused in a beneficial way. We produce CO2 as well but we don’t take care of it. Instead, we create excessive amounts of CO2 which nature’s biological system of self-cleaning can no longer regenerate. Natural balance is collapsing. For the planet, these effects will pass by quickly and ended unnoticed, while for the mankind they will be catastrophic, if not fatal.
What +2°C means
+2°C means that the planet got sick. It also means that it will set off its protective mechanism that will react the way it has to. It will attack 6,5 billion aggressive viruses with its entire arsenal of weapons. For the virus, the outcome of the battle will be fatal.
But the virus is intelligent and can recognize the coming danger. It can mutate, become efficient and prove to the nature that it is ready to adapt and cooperate.
Now is the time to accept decisions that will benefit the society and the environment. We’re talking decisions that will infect other still aggressive viruses and make them mutate to start working in a way that will be ecologically responsible and socially just.
Enough talking!
- “We adopted the agreements that will encourage… blah blah blah…” – heard already 1000 times
- “We fought out a compromise that suits everyone… blah blah blah…” – heard already 1000 times
- “We exceeded our expectations… blah blah blah…” – heard already 1000 times
- “It’s hard to reach an agreement that will suit everyone… blah blah blah…” – heard already 1000 times
- “The adopted resolutions are justifiably optimistic because… blah blah blah…” – heard already 1000 times
- “We can proudly say that we adopted a resolution that gives hope… blah blah blah…” – heard already 1000 times
- “Next year will decide about… blah blah blah…” – heard already 1000 times
We have been listening to statements like these for the past 30 years since the first climate change conference took place in Stockholm 1972 and up until now. Meanwhile, the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere just keeps increasing without control.
Enough repeating!
- “Glaciers are shrinking… blah blah blah…” – heard already 1000 times
- “Polar ice caps are shrinking… blah blah blah…” – heard already 1000 times
- “Sea level is rising up… blah blah blah…” – heard already 1000 times
- “The forests are being excessively destroyed… blah blah blah…” – heard already 1000 times
- “The climate is changing… blah blah blah…” – heard already 1000 times
- “There is shortage of drinking water… blah blah blah…” – heard already 1000 times
- “We have to do something… blah blah blah…” – heard already 1000 times
All this talking and debating has only one outcome: our living space is getting smaller, our personal safety is jeopardized, our quality of life is going down, and our health is getting worse. How much longer? Are we going to have to declare humanity as endangered species so that we can react and protect ourselves?
Enough waiting!
While some people talk on meetings, the rest of us – with exception of those who are ecologically conscious – listen with disinterest, obey, stay silent, do nothing, pretend ignorance, and live like the growing problems of our environment and our climate are none of our business. We wait and breed false hope that maybe something positive will come out of that blah …blah …blah…
We all don’t do enough. We gamble by bouncing the responsibility from one to another and to unborn generations that will have to live with whatever problems we leave behind. Playing this kind of game is utterly immoral, unjustifiable and unacceptable. In one word, it is a disgrace for all of us.
Let us demand action
Time for babbling, disinterest and passivity has run out. Our cities are choking in exhaust gases that are destroying our health. In many urban areas, the CO2 emissions have already exceeded all limits allowed by law. The situation is only getting worse. Increasingly more people, mainly children, are suffering from respiratory and venereal diseases. Noise has become unbearable. Strokes and heart attacks are on the rise. Depression and anger is spreading because we keep delaying improvement.
Even though some cities are introducing preventive measures (banning cars in central areas, speed limits, modernizing traffic infrastructure, banning driving on certain days, etc), all too little is done for improvements to show drastic impact.
We are gambling with ourselves by letting things continue like this. Nothing will improve if we keep waiting. Let us demand that our taxpayer money goes for initiatives and projects that will benefit the society and the environment.
There is an alternative for everything, even for cities and roads overcrowded by cars full of exhaust gases and noise. Free public transit is a possibility that gives the right solution and that must be carried out.
Let us shift from expensive cars to free public bus or train
The advantages of free public transit are enormous and extremely beneficial for all citizens of the European Union:
- Drastic decrease in emission of exhaust gases
- Less noise
- Less traffic jams
- Better traffic safety
- Enormous savings in energy and raw materials
- Creation of new jobs
- Ascent of efficient economical development
- Considerably lower public and personal expenses
- Empowering of social justice
- Higher cultural dialogue
- Creation of friendlier urban environment
Why free public transit if we will continue driving in our own cars?The goal of free public transit is not just cutting down CO2 emissions. There is more. By introducing this system, we will lower the production of cars that are the true cause of greenhouse gases. Electric cars? Hydrogen cars? Yes, but only if they are durable. We need to produce cars with long lifespan in order to lower the use of raw materials and cut down the level of environmental pollution.
Cities of the 21st century must become cities intertwined with efficient road and rail networks of buses, trams and trains where automobiles will be a rare sight.
European road and rail network
Here is the system we imagine for the European public transit of the 21st century: Road and rail connections must work as an efficient fast-flowing network where people can ride in safety and comfort. Junctions must become station hubs that offer passengers beneficial services (restaurants, shopping centers, tourist agencies, banks, hotels and other institutions). Major hubs, interconnected by a fast supersonic rail system, can be located in the capital cities of the EU. These major stations consist of terminals with a traffic infrastructure that allows for arrival and departure of a large amount of trains and buses from and to stations of other large cities. The entire European road network must be logistically managed in such a way that a passenger can quickly travel in a local, regional, and national scope. Why not take a ride to work, to school, to friends or vacation by free public transit? Let us travel around Europe safely, comfortably, worry-free with a sense that we did something beneficial for ourselves and the environment.
How to finance European road and rail network
Financing is provided by:
- The EU from the European budget,
- Individual countries from their budget,
- All EU taxpayers where the amount of contribution must not exceed 0,03% debit of the net yearly salary of an individual taxpayer.
Ownership of the European road and rail network
The owners of the European road and rail network are all citizens of the EU. If the European road and rail network is financed by everybody, then everybody will take care of it.
Why start with free public transit now?
There are three good reasons:
- Free public transit will deliver immediate positive results. It can be utilized within a relatively short period of time and can be built upon existing traffic infrastructure. This will quickly and efficiently reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere and lower the amount vehicles in overcrowded urban areas.
- Experts estimate that full-scale production of energy from renewable resources (Sun, water, wind) will come into effect only 30 years from now, given of course that favorable social and climate conditions are sustained by that time. In order to efficiently take advantage of the renewable energy, we must begin acting together and initiating projects that will meet the needs of the future society and further generations.
- Biofuel. This concept is but another way to continue destruction of the environment in the 21st century. While you are reading this, the rainforest in Brazil continue being destroyed. Indonesia and Malaysia plan on destroying rainforest the size of Great Britain in order to push forward the technology of vehicles powered by biofuel that is produced from sugarcane and palm oil. To replace a tree that produces oxygen with a plant that will suffocate us with exhaust gases, is pure idiocy.
Projects of the Future
Clean energy from renewable resources (sun, water, wind) will never benefit us if we do not adapt our lifestyle and our actions to the new conditions. Free public transit is one of the projects that paves the way to future technological progress that is energy efficient and economical, environmentally acceptable and socially beneficial. Unclean technologies, where profit comes before people and the environment, have no place in the 21st century.
The model of free public transit can be adopted around the world and become one of the most efficient and beneficial projects that can drastically reduce the amount of CO2 in the air.
New projects, new jobs
Along with overall social benefit, the planning and creation of European rail and road network for free public transit brings an enormous amount of new jobs. Let us overcome crises and recessions with projects that will work for the future. Let us create a society where our work and our lifestyle will produce positive impact.
Loud YES for free European public transit
Let us overcome recession and increasing unemployment with jobs. There is enough work to do, it only has to become beneficial for us and the environment. Let us build connections that will take Europeans in unity into an environmentally and socially friendlier this and next century.
The future of our world is being built today. Let us begin with projects like free public transit.
Add your opinion and support the adoption of free public transit. We will send this initiative and your comment to the EU parliament, ministries of transportation of individual EU member countries and European public transportation companies.
Response to my petition for free European public transit
Dear Sir,
On behalf of the Secretary-General, I am writing to you to acknowledge receipt of your petition forwarded by E-mail on 18.11.2009.
Your petition has been entered in the general register as Petition No. 1719-09 and I should be most grateful if you would use that reference number in my future correspondence.
Your petition has been forwarded to the Committee on Petitions which will, first of all, take a decision on its admissibility, i.e. on whether the subject of your petition falls within the sphere of activities of the European Union. If the committee declares it admissible, it will then examine the substance of your petition.
The committee on Petitions will write to you directly to inform you of its decision on admissibility.
If your petition is declared admissible, the aforementioned committee will examine it at a meeting open to the public in accordance with the provision of the European Parliaments internal Rules of Procedure.
May I draw your Attention to the fact that the procedure for the examination of a petition may be fairly lengthy, given the large number of petitions that we receive which have to be translated into all the official languages of the European Union and then examined by the Committee on Petitions.
Please address any further correspondence on this matter to the following address: Secretariat of the Committee on Petitions, European Parliament, rue Wiertz, B-1047 Brussels. Fax.: 0032/22846844.
Yours faithfully,
João Regalo Corrĕa
Head of Unit
Link for Submitting a petition
https://www.secure.europarl.europa.eu/parliament/public/petition/secured/submit.do;jsessionid=9C1749256118EC109358E15A3830F98A.node1?language=EN
_______________________________________________________________
303888 15.03.2010
Subject: Petition Nr 1719/2009
Dear Mr. Dovečar
I would like to inform you that the Committee on Petitions has considered your petition and declared it admissible under the terms of the European Parliaments Rules of Procedure, given that the issues raised come within the sphere of activity of the European Union.
The Committee took note of your remarks on the cross-border nature of environmental matters, but it is not in a position to deal with the substance of your petition. Allow to use this opportunity to draw your attention to the fact that the Member States enjoy full competence for the regulation of the public transport.
Please note that consideration of your petition by the European Parliament has been concluded and the file is now closed.
Yours sincerely,
Erminia Mazzoni
Chairman of the
Committee on Petitions
Regardless of its name, the European Union is still disunited and irresponsible towards us and environment.
Comments
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27/11/2009 @ 7:32 pm
Welcome to the movement for free public transport. We request permission to re-publish parts of this post on our blog.
19/03/2010 @ 1:19 pm
[...] Response to my petition for free European public transit [...]
20/03/2010 @ 3:17 pm
Thanks the author for article. The main thing do not forget about users, and continue in the same spirit.
22/03/2010 @ 2:51 am
The subject is fully clear but why does the text lack clarity? But in general your blog is great.