THE DAMAGE CAUSED BY THE CAR, AND CAR-RELATED, INDUSTRIES
TO THE EARTH'S LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEM
In 1997 there were 680,000,000 vehicles (cars,
vans, trucks, lorries) on the world's roads.(1) Cars consume vast quantities
of fossil fuels and release vast clouds of atmospheric pollution. Car exhaust
emissions boost the greenhouse effect and decrease the Photosynthetic effect
(i.e. damage to the Earth's Photosynthetic capacity) both of which boost
global burning. The car is thus one of the biggest contributors to global
burning. However, the contribution that cars make to global burning through
both geophysiological damage (the destruction of the Earth's Photosynthetic
capacity) and greenhouse gas pollution is just the tip of a colossal pyramid
of planetary devastation. The following article outlines the huge range
of industries which help to keep cars on the world's roads. The geophysiological
damage and greenhouse pollution generated by the industries servicing the
car can be deemed to be a part of the contribution which the car, and car
related, industries make to global burning.
THE CAR
It has been stated, "Transport now accounts
for one-quarter of world energy use, and about one-half of the world's
oil production; motor vehicles account for nearly 80 per cent of all transport-related
energy."(2) In america, "From 1936 to 1985, United States drivers burned
3 trillion gallons of oil, making the automobile the largest single consumer
of non-renewable energy in the 20thC."(3) Cars release vast clouds of
atmospheric pollution. They are the biggest single contributor to all
the major forms of atmospheric pollution such as stratospheric ozone depletion,
tropospheric ozone pollution, acid rain, and greenhouse gas emissions.(4)
All of these forms of pollution contribute to global burning. Tropospheric
ozone pollution and greenhouse gas emissions contribute to the greenhouse
effect whilst stratospheric ozone depletion and acid rain destroy the
Earth's Photosynthetic capacity and thus contribute to global burning.
The car is thus one of the biggest contributors to global burning.
THE CAR AND CAR INDUSTRY
The car industry contributes to all the major forms of pollution boosting the greenhouse effect. It also contributes to the Photosynthetic effect by devastating the Earth's Photosynthetic capacity which is the Earth's climate stabilization system. The car industry's contribution to the Photosynthetic effect is far bigger than that made by cars and this gives a huge boost to global burning.
THE CAR AND THE CAR/ROAD INDUSTRIES
The road construction
industry deposits thousands of miles of oil slicks across the Earth's
landmasses every year (primarily, and, seemingly if at all possible, through
greenfield sites, sites of special scientific interest, areas of outstanding
natural beauty, Forests, Wilderness areas, etc).(5) The road construction
industry and the corrupt politicians in their pay, seem to believe there
should be no roadless area around the planet - as if a roadless area was
an affront to oomano-imperialism, oomans attempt to mould the Earth to
their own interests.
THE CAR AND THE CAR/ROAD/OIL INDUSTRIES
Cars also have to
take responsibility for a substantial part of the geophysiological damage
caused by the oil industry given that over half the world's oil is used,
in one way or another, by motorists and the transportation industry.(6)
The contribution that cars make to global burning through the use of oil
goes far beyond the release of vast quantities of vehicle exhaust fumes.(7)
Motorists and the oil industry dump vast quantities of oil into the environment
which reduces the Earth's Photosynthetic effect and thus boosts global
burning. Although western oil experts condemn the dilapidated russian
oil industry for creating oil slicks in siberia which are alleged to be
400 times bigger than the exxon valdez disaster, western oil companies
have caused far more extensive damage in tropical Rainforests around the
world.(8)
THE CAR AND THE CAR/ROAD/OIL/TRANSPORTATION INDUSTRIES
Paradoxically, cars are highly dependent on the transportation industry. A significant fraction of the goods carried by the transportation industry are used by the car, and the car related, industries. Tens of millions of cars are shipped around the world firstly from factories to ports; then overseas by ship; and, finally, inland by car transporters. Vast numbers of car components and accessories are transported by vans, lorries, or heavy goods vehicles, to car assembly plants, garages, car showrooms, and retail outlets all over the world. By the time a car rolls off the production line and leaves the factory gate it has already travelled around the Earth several times.
THE CAR AND THE CAR/ROAD/OIL/TRANSPORTATION/MINING INDUSTRIES
Cars are also responsible
for much of the damage caused by the mining industry given that a huge
proportion of the raw materials gouged out of the Earth's mantle are destined
for the car, and car related industries.(9) Mining uproots large areas
of Forests and Top-soil and reduces the Earth's Photosynthetic effect.(10)
It destroys more Forests and Top-soil through the creation of waste dumps.
The toxic run-off from waste dumps poisons more Phytomass further decreasing
the Photosynthetic effect thereby boosting global burning. Mining also
boosts atmospheric pollution. The scale of the geophysiological damage
caused by mining can be gauged from the fact that the global mining industry
currently shifts more soil and rock than all the world's rivers combined.(11)
THE CAR AND THE CAR/ROAD/OIL/TRANSPORTATION/MINING/PROCESSING INDUSTRIES
Once mined, the processing
of raw materials causes additional geophysiological damage and greenhouse
pollution. Processing creates more slag heaps which suffocates and poisons
more Phytomass. It leads to the construction of dams in Wilderness areas
(drowning vast areas of Forests and Wildlife habitats under reservoirs)
to provide cheap electricity to smelt aluminium (10% of which is used
by the car industry).(12) It encourages the logging of vast stretches
of Rainforests to create charcoal to smelt iron ore (much of which is
also used by the world's car industry). The brazilian grand carajas project
has 26 pig-iron plants consuming 300,000 hectares of Forest per annum.(13)
THE CAR AND THE CAR/ROAD/OIL/TRANSPORTATION/MINING/PROCESSING/
CONSTRUCTION
INDUSTRIES
Cars can also be
blamed for a large part of the geophysiological damage and greenhouse
pollution caused by the construction industry which is suffocating the
Earth's Photosynthetic capacity under an increasingly vast network of
factories; petrol service stations; garages; car showrooms; car hire depots;
motorway cafeterias; vehicle testing centres; car accessory/component
shops; car parks; motoring organizations' office blocks; car insurance
office blocks; car registration/road tax/petrol tax offices; local, and
national, government transport departments, etc..(14)
THE CAR AND THE CAR/ROAD/OIL/TRANSPORTATION/MINING/PROCESSING/
CONSTRUCTION/PIPELINE INDUSTRIES
The global pipeline
industry is one of the biggest in the world but is rarely mentioned for
the simple reason that it is out of sight. The pipeline business carries
water, drainage, sewage, as well as oil and gas. The oil industry has
built massive pipelines around the world to serve the car.(15) Many service
stations are refilled with petrol via pipelines.(16)
THE CAR AND THE CAR/ROAD/OIL/TRANSPORTATION/MINING/PROCESSING/
CONSTRUCTION/PIPELINE/SHIPBUILDING INDUSTRIES
Cars are also indirectly
responsible for a substantial part of the geophysiological damage and
greenhouse gas pollution created by the world's shipbuilding industry
which constructs oil supertankers (accounting for 40% of all seaborne
trade),(17) bulk cargo carriers (carrying raw materials for the car/road/oil/mining/processing/construction
industries), ferries/barges (transporting cars, car components/accessories),
and oil derricks.(18)
THE CAR AND THE CAR/ROAD/OIL/TRANSPORTATION/MINING/PROCESSING/
CONSTRUCTION/PIPELINE/SHIPBUILDING/CHEMICALS INDUSTRIES
A large part of the
geophysiological damage and greenhouse pollution generated by the chemicals
industry can also be attributed to cars given the huge quantities of paints/solvents/dyes/acids
used by the car, and car related road/oil/transportation/mining/processing/construction/shipbuilding,
industries.(19) Huge amounts of chemicals are used to manufacture cars
which poison the environment, so more chemicals have to be produced to
produce a fresh environment for motorists in their cars, "Christmas accounts
for almost 75% of annual perfume sales, but it's not just wives, girlfriends
and lovers that receive a fragrent present this time of the year - the
loved one parked outside are also remembered. The Economist Intelligence
Unit reports that 178 million car air freshners were sold in the UK last
year and the market is worth almost £124 million annually."(20) It is
amazing that motorists believe that all that matters is creating a lovely
pleasant smelling environment inside their cars whilst the environment
outside their cars i.e. the Earth's life support system, is collapsing.
It is commonly believed
that most cfcs are used in aerosol spray cans or in domestic/retail refrigeration
units but in fact most cfcs are used in cars. Large quantities of cfcs
are used in the car manufacturing process but their biggest use is in
car air conditioning units. In others words, cars are the biggest single
cause of stratospheric ozone depletion, "A substantial proportion possibly
more than half of the cfcs entering the atmosphere, comes from leaking
air conditioners in American cars."(21) There might be those who believe
that the damage to the stratospheric ozone layer is no longer a threat
because the world's governments have realized their stupidity in allowing
the manufacture of cfcs. Unfortunately the american and the japanese governments
have sought only to diminish, not ban, the use of cfcs, "In late 1993,
DuPont, the US chemical giant, was persuaded by the Clinton Administration
to continue producing CFCs - the chemicals most responsible for ozone
depletion - in the developed world for a full year beyond the date when
the company had publicly committed itself to ceasing domestic CFC production.
This was in response to pressure from vehicle manufacturers which still
had not done sufficient work to find alternatives for automobile air-conditioners."(22)
The american government is trying to reduce the use of cfcs by pricing
them off the market. This has led to the development of a huge black market
in these chemicals. It is possible to make huge profits by smuggling the
chemicals into america and evading the tariffs imposed on cfcs, "Use of
CFCs is likely to continue long after they are officially phased out -
a huge black market for CFCs has developed in the US, where, according
to a US Customs' agent, they are the second biggest item of contraband
into Port Miami after cocaine."(23) The cars' destruction of the ozone
layer continues.
THE CAR AND THE CAR/ROAD/OIL/TRANSPORTATION/MINING/PROCESSING/
CONSTRUCTION/PIPELINE/SHIPBUILDING/CHEMICALS/MICRO-ELECTRONICS INDUSTRIES
A bit more surprising
is that cars are responsible for a large proportion of the geophysiological
damage and greenhouse pollution created by the micro-electronics industry.
The world's vehicles have been transformed by the micro-chip and may possess
as much computing power as all the world's personal computers. It has
been alleged that, "The BMX has more computing power than was used to
put a man on the moon."(24) In addition, the car related road/oil/transportation/mining/processing/construction/shipbuilding/chemicals,
industries also use vast numbers of micro-chips and computers.(25)
THE CAR AND THE CAR/ROAD/OIL/TRANSPORTATION/MINING/PROCESSING/
CONSTRUCTION/PIPELINE/SHIPBUILDING/CHEMICALS/MICRO-ELECTRONICS/
MEDIA INDUSTRIES
It might seem a little
strange but cars are also responsible for a significant part of the Photosynthetic
devastation and greenhouse pollution caused by the media industry since
it is heavily financed by the car, and oil, industries. Without these
industries providing the media industry with vast amounts of advertising
revenue it would be nothing like its current size.(26) In the united states
$5 billion a year is spent on car advertising alone (more than the country
spends on public transport).(27) Some believe this is a gross underestimate.(28)
Cars require vast quantities of paper if they are to function properly
and the production of paper causes geophysiological damage to the Earth's
Photosynthetic capacity and greenhouse pollution, "Millions of motorists
are getting under the bonnet to avoid hefty garage bills. That's a blessing
for Haynes Publishing, which makes repair manuals for nearly every car
and motorbike in Britain. Haynes, which sells five million manuals worldwide
each year covering 450 vehicle makes, jacked up profits by two-thirds
to nearly £4 million in the year to May. The manuals have to be translated
into French, Spanish and Japanese."(29)
THE CAR AND THE CAR/ROAD/OIL/TRANSPORTATION/MINING/PROCESSING/
CONSTRUCTION/PIPELINE/SHIPBUILDING/CHEMICALS/MICRO-ELECTRONICS/
MEDIA/WASTE DISPOSAL INDUSTRIES
As the biggest consumer
of the world's raw materials, cars are responsible for a significant proportion
of the geophysiological damage and greenhouse pollution caused by the
waste disposal industry. The car, and car related road/oil/transportation/mining/processing/construction/shipbuilding/chemicals/micro-electronics/media,
industries produce more waste than any other industrial complex. Some
650 million cars have been dumped in the united states alone since 1900
- which means, say 650 million x 20 tyres; 650 million by 5 batteries,
etc..(30) Virtually no part of the car, and car related industries, make
any contribution to recycling in order to reduce their contribution to
global burning. It is as if for motorists, car industry executives, and
the advertising world, the pleasure of driving around in a car is knowing
that they are not merely driving around in a car but doing something far
more grandiose - causing a vast amount of geophysiological devastation
around the Earth and destabilizing the climate.
THE CAR AND THE CAR/ROAD/OIL/TRANSPORTATION/MINING/PROCESSING/
CONSTRUCTION/PIPELINE/SHIPBUILDING/CHEMICALS/MICRO-ELECTRONICS/
MEDIA/WASTE DISPOSAL/ELECTRICITY SUPPLY INDUSTRIES
There are only a
pifflingly small number of electric cars in the world and the amount of
electricity they consume is a negligible proportion of total electricity
output. However, the car, and car related road/oil/transportation/mining/processing/construction/shipbuilding/chemicals/micro-electronics/media/waste
disposal, industries consume a significant proportion of the world's output
of electricity and are thus responsible for the geophysiological damage
and greenhouse gas pollution which this causes. Given the large proportion
of electricity generated by coal, then clearly cars run as much on coal
as they do on oil. Some of the car industry's waste materials are used
to generate what is rather absurdly called green energy/electricity.(31)
THE CAR AND THE CAR/ROAD/OIL/TRANSPORTATION/MINING/PROCESSING/
CONSTRUCTION/PIPELINE/SHIPBUILDING/CHEMICALS/MICRO-ELECTRONICS/
MEDIA/WASTE DISPOSAL/ELECTRICITY SUPPLY/WATER INDUSTRIES
The car and car related
industries consume vast amounts of water. It takes vast amounts of water
to keep cars on the roads. Volkeswagen's car plant at Wolfsburg .. "uses
some 360 million cubic metres of water a year (81 billion gallons)."(32)
; "Water is essential to every aspect of living. Indeed, that great energy
guzzler and polluter, the modern motor car, could not be constructed without
vast quantities of water, something like 500,000 gallons per vehicle."(33)
In addition, vast amounts of water are used to replace oil extracted from
oilfields, "Oil that is pumped from the ground needs huge amounts of water
to push it out and fill the space it occupied."(34) The car and car related
industries must therefore take responsibility for a significant part of
the geophysiological damage and greenhouse pollution caused by the water
industry.
THE CAR AND THE CAR/ROAD/OIL/TRANSPORTATION/MINING/PROCESSING/
CONSTRUCTION/PIPELINE/SHIPBUILDING/CHEMICALS/MICRO-ELECTRONICS/
MEDIA/WASTE DISPOSAL/ELECTRICITY SUPPLY/WATER/TOURISM INDUSTRIES
The culture, tourism,
entertainment, and leisure industries are highly dependent upon the car.
Firstly, most of their employees travel to work in their cars. Secondly,
the people who visit entertainment centres usually do so in their cars.
Thirdly, the people who help to run and maintain the industries also use
cars. This means that each leisure facility around the world has to provide
car parks for vast numbers of petrol/steam driven machines. This causes
a vast scale of geophysiological devastation which reduces the Photosynthetic
effect and increases the heat island effect - both of which boost global
burning. Although the leisure industry (which, according to some experts,
will soon become the world's number one industry) is often regarded as
environmentally friendly it causes far more pollution than traditional
heavy industries because of the vast distances that people travel to reach
entertainment facilities.(35) Wallyland causes more pollution than the
average steel foundry.(36) Even worse is that many leisure facilities,
in some countries perhaps the majority, would never have been built on
greenfield sites if it wasn't for the car which gives people the mobility
to reach such places.
THE CAR AND THE CAR/ROAD/OIL/TRANSPORTATION/MINING/PROCESSING/
CONSTRUCTION/PIPELINE/SHIPBUILDING/CHEMICALS/MICRO-ELECTRONICS/
MEDIA/WASTE DISPOSAL/ELECTRICITY SUPPLY/WATER/TOURISM/FORESTRY/
INDUSTRIES
Although it is one
of the basic contributors to car related industries, the Forest industry
is often overlooked because of its supposedly green nature. However, modern
forestry is far from green. Motorists thus have to take responsibility
for some of the geophysiological damage caused by global forestry e.g.
the huge rubber plantations, which provide the raw materials for the manufacture
of billions of tyres, have been created by torching vast stretches of
tropical Rainforests. As an indication of the scale of the destruction
which has taken place, the rubber industry 'employs' 16 million people
in the third world.(37) The car, and car related road/oil/transportation/mining/processing/construction/shipbuilding/chemicals/micro-electronics/media(38)
/waste disposal/electricity generation/water/leisure(39), industries also
use considerable amounts of timber.
THE CAR AND THE CAR/ROAD/OIL/TRANSPORTATION/MINING/PROCESSING/
CONSTRUCTION/PIPELINE/SHIPBUILDING/CHEMICALS/MICRO-ELECTRONICS/
MEDIA/WASTE DISPOSAL/ELECTRICITY SUPPLY/WATER/TOURISM/FORESTRY/
AGRICULTURE INDUSTRIES
The car, and car
related road/oil/transportation/mining/processing/construction/shipbuilding/chemicals/micro-electronics/media/waste
disposal/electricity generation/water/leisure/forestry, industries also
use agricultural products. If the predictions of a number of car-owning
greens come true then cars will be increasingly dependent upon agricultural
crops providing biofuels. For many years a number of countries have been
producing ethanol what is laughably called 'green petrol' on large scale
sugar cane plantations - only to end up using as much oil growing, distilling,
and transporting, the fuel as the crop produces.(40) Never mind the reality
just keep pumping out the green propaganda - doubtlessly the green organic
pharming industry will claim they could produce biofuels in a far more
environmentally friendly way. Some car industries also produce agricultural
equipment, "Tractor sales in western Europe dropped from 350,000 in 1977
to around 150,000 last year. The shrinking market for tractors helped
to reduce Renault's net profits last year. Renault strengthened its position
as France's top selling tractor."(41)
THE CAR AND THE CAR/ROAD/OIL/TRANSPORTATION/MINING/PROCESSING/
CONSTRUCTION/PIPELINE/SHIPBUILDING/CHEMICALS/MICRO-ELECTRONICS/
MEDIA/WASTE DISPOSAL/ELECTRICITY SUPPLY/WATER/TOURISM/FORESTRY/
AGRICULTURE/MEDICAL INDUSTRIES
At the end of the
20thc, the car was responsible for the deaths of nearly 250,000 people
on the world's roads. Vehicle pollution causes a whole range of diseases
from lead poisoning to asthma which leads to even more deaths. It may
be the case that more people are killed by vehicle exhaust pollution than
by car accidents, "Traffic fumes kill more people than road crashes, a
report reveals. The report from the world health organization highlights
one of the fastest growing killers, a cocktail of noxious gases and particles
spewing out of cars, buses and lorries."(42) The car, and car related
industries, require a substantial proportion of the world's total medical
services and thus a corresponding proportion of the geophysiological damage
and greenhouse pollution generated by the medical industry can be blamed
on the car. Medical authorities cause geophysiological destruction through
the construction of hospitals and car parks. They also cause a considerable
amount of pollution through the car journeys made by people visiting hospitals(43)
and through emissions from their own waste incinerators. In brutland,
some of this pollution involves the burning of organs stolen from the
dead without the permission of the deceased or their relatives - if tourists
are visiting brutland they would be well advised to count their organs
before going into one of the country's hospitals as patients cannot be
refunded once they have left the building.(44)
THE CAR AND THE CAR/ROAD/OIL/TRANSPORTATION/MINING/PROCESSING/
CONSTRUCTION/PIPELINE/SHIPBUILDING/CHEMICALS/MICRO-ELECTRONICS/
MEDIA/WASTE DISPOSAL/ELECTRICITY SUPPLY/WATER/TOURISM/FORESTRY/
AGRICULTURE/MEDICAL/FINANCE INDUSTRIES
As if this massive
contribution to global burning wasn't sufficient the car, and car related
road/oil/transportation/mining/processing/construction/shipbuilding/chemicals/micro-electronics/media/waste
disposal/electricity generation/water/leisure/forestry/agriculture/medical,
industries also have extensive connections to the financial/insurance/banking
world which means a portion of the damage they cause to the destabilization
of the climate also has to be allocated to the car and car related industries.
Some car manufacturers reinvest their profits in further acts of geophysiological
devastation - e.g. volkswagen, and other car-makers, who have razed hundreds
of thousands of acres of Amazonian Rainforest,(45) and japanese/south
korean car-makers currently clear cutting their way across the world's
Rainforests and the siberian Taiga. The car industry also contributes
to the finance industries firstly, through the loans taken out to buy
cars; secondly, to provide car insurance cover; thirdly, through insurance
claims, "Insurers paid out a record £648 million to victims last year
- 40% up on 1990. Car theft is now britain's fastest growing crime with
570,000 claims last year. They included £478.5 million for thefts from
private cars - compared to £324 million in 1990 and £52 million in 1982.
Police list 600,000 cars as officially stolen."(46) ; finally, some car
industries even produce their own credit card.(47)
THE CAR AND THE CAR/ROAD/OIL/TRANSPORTATION/MINING/PROCESSING/
CONSTRUCTION/PIPELINE/SHIPBUILDING/CHEMICALS/MICRO-ELECTRONICS/
MEDIA/WASTE DISPOSAL/ELECTRICITY SUPPLY/WATER/TOURISM/FORESTRY/
AGRICULTURE/MEDICAL/FINANCE/SPACE INDUSTRIES
Increasingly involved
in the car industry is the space industry which boosts telecommunications
throughout the car, and car related, industries; helps to guide oil tankers
across the Earth's oceans; and, increasingly, to locate stolen vehicles.
Special devices can be fitted to cars so that if they are stolen their
location can be traced immediately by satellites orbiting the Earth. It
is believed the aerospace industry is also developing a mobile phone which
is able to detect when motorists, busily nattering on their phones, plough
into a pedestrian or another car.
THE CAR AND THE CAR/ROAD/OIL/TRANSPORTATION/MINING/PROCESSING/
CONSTRUCTION/PIPELINE/SHIPBUILDING/CHEMICALS/MICRO-ELECTRONICS/
MEDIA/WASTE DISPOSAL/ELECTRICITY SUPPLY/WATER/TOURISM/FORESTRY/
AGRICULTURE/MEDICAL/FINANCE/SPACE/NUCLEAR POWER INDUSTRIES
The car and car related
industries are already dependent upon the nuclear power industry to the
extent that they use electricity generated by the nuclear power industry.
In the future this dependency may become far more significant. To the
extent that the car industry is one of the main initiators of the switch
from fossil fuels to natural gas, and then hydrogen, powered societies,
it would also be responsible for rejuvenating the nuclear power industry.
It may well be true that, "The real saviour of the north american car
culture may be something that's a long way off; hydrogen fuel."(48) but
by the same token it will also be the saviour of the nuclear power industry.(49)
THE CAR AND THE CAR/ROAD/OIL/TRANSPORTATION/MINING/PROCESSING/
CONSTRUCTION/PIPELINE/SHIPBUILDING/CHEMICALS/MICRO-ELECTRONICS/
MEDIA/WASTE DISPOSAL/ELECTRICITY SUPPLY/WATER/TOURISM/FORESTRY/
AGRICULTURE/MEDICAL/FINANCE/SPACE/NUCLEAR POWER/RETAIL INDUSTRIES
The mobility created
by the car has completely reshaped the retail industries in the over-industrialized
world. City centres are no longer the focus of shopping but out of town
shopping complexes. Vast numbers of people are using their cars to visit
out of town shopping centres whilst city centres become ghost towns.(50)
THE CAR AND THE CAR/ROAD/OIL/TRANSPORTATION/MINING/PROCESSING/
CONSTRUCTION/PIPELINE/SHIPBUILDING/CHEMICALS/MICRO-ELECTRONICS/
MEDIA/WASTE
DISPOSAL/ELECTRICITY SUPPLY/WATER/TOURISM/FORESTRY/
AGRICULTURE/MEDICAL/FINANCE/SPACE/NUCLEAR
POWER/RETAIL/SECURITY INDUSTRIES
For want of a better
word the car is also highly dependent upon the security industry which
covers the military protection given to oil producing countries; then
police who try to catch car thieves; car park attendants, traffic wardens,
etc. A number of wars have been fought over oil, "The estimated total
release of carbon in the form of carbon dioxide from oil well fires in
Kuwait during 1991 was 0.065 GtC about 1% of total anthropogenic emissions."(51)
Large numbers of police are required to try and catch those stealing cars
and also to stop motorists from breaking the law by speeding. The Lex
report on Motoring "offered a particularly damning image of driving habits
among company car motorists. Almost twice as likely to break motorway
speed limits than private motorists, company car drivers also break speed
limits on main roads more readily."(52)
CONCLUSIONS.
The car releases
a wide range of pollutants which make a considerable contribution to global
burning. The car related industries also contribute to all the major forms
of greenhouse pollution. Their contribution to the greenhouse effect may
be even bigger than cars.(53) The car related industries cause far more
damage to the Earth's Photosynthetic capacity than the car itself so,
the overall contribution of car related industries to global burning may
be greater than that of cars alone. In addition, cars and the car related
industry may contribute more to global burning through the Photosynthetic
effect i.e. damage to the Earth's Photosynthetic capacity, than through
the release of greenhouse gas pollution.
So, having traced
some of the major sources of geophysiological devastation and greenhouse
gas pollution emanating from this vast, inter-locking, global network
of industries which are now required to keep cars on the road, it should
not be too difficult to conclude that the car is a geophysiological disaster
of truly colossal proportions and that, to put it graphically, cars are
nothing less than a 680 million strong panzer tank force currently engaged
in a blitzkreig attack on the Earth's life support system, "In the modern
war against nature, the automobile ranks as the single most destructive
tool in the nonmilitary arsenal."(54)
What is truly galling
about motorists' geocidal attack on the Earth is their sheer waste and
extravagance, "The british use their cars for almost 80% of all journeys,
even on distances of less than a few hundred yards, a report commissioned
by the RAC revealed yesterday. The report says that 6.9% of journeys by
car are less than half a mile, up from 3.8% in the mid 1970s. Trips of
between half a mile and one mile increased from 14.7% to 24.1%."(55) In
other words, "I'll just pop around the corner for a packet of fags - where's
the car keys, love." Almost as bad is motorists' refusal to question the
geophysiological consequences of the car - wimps in bangers. Having said
this it should be noted that the Animal enslavement industry is a far
bigger cause of geophysiological destruction than the car and car related
industries.
ALL MOTORISTS ARE ECO-NAZIS
ALL MOTORISTS ARE HOTTERS
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