There's No Such Thing As A Clean Car

Author Jane Holtz Kay challenges environmentalists and others concerned with the problems created by autos not to settle for so-called "clean cars."

1 minute read

December 13, 2001, 4:00 AM PST

By Abhijeet Chavan @http://twitter.com/legalaidtech


Why do so many environmentalists seem content to change the tailpipe rather than challenge the system? It is fine for Detroit to applaud its profit maker, but it is California dreaming to think of a truly clean car as a possibility. On a planet under siege, could any miracle machine stop sprawl with its farm loss and wetland takeover, its road kill and ecological desecration?How could "clean" cars free the Americans now immobilized by auto-dependency spending eight billion hours a year stuck in traffic; help the 55 million school age children on bike or foot threatened by racing roadsters; aid the dependent elderly unable to drive, or the 9 percent of our households - the poor, women and minorities--who can't afford a car? What would a dream machine do for the quality of life of the overworked American needing a ton of steel and wheel to buy a quart of milk?

Thanks to Dan Zack

Monday, November 19, 2001 in Orion Online

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