Following on from yesterday's post about the falllacy of believing that simply replacing petrol cars with EVs will help "solve" the (climate) crisis, I dug out an article that I wrote 17 years ago when I was editing the quarterly SW Green Party newsletter.
Here 'tis:
For the past year and a half I have been driving an EV and it is a great pleasure. It is very smooth to drive, no gear changing and always plenty of power available instantly. It also promotes a gentler style of driving - partly because the accurate information about fuel consumption rate and remaining range makes you more aware of the impact both of changing conditions and of the way you are driving. Thus I find I now tend to drive a good 10mph slower on dual carriageways - seldom exceeding 65mph and often dropping to 55 or less on hills whereas in a petrol car I would put my foot down to keep my speed up. You drive more efficiently in an EV because you have better information.
Following on from from the last post on the things that happened in '72, there is another thing worth noting about 1972 that has become topical this weekend; and that is the Grateful Dead finally making it to Europe for a tour. You probably had to have discovered their music (and its usual accessories) before then to appreciate the significance - or maybe you got turned on at one of the gigs, or saw them somewhere else. In the UK. In '72 that meant the Empire Pool, Wembley for the opening two nights, the Bickershaw (rain and mud) "Festival" (where they magicked up the sunshine), and the final 4 nights of the tour at the Lyceum Ballroom in London.
1972 was an extraordinary year - the year The Environment hit the zietgiest.
So what did you do in seventy two?
Did you follow the Blueprint or stand with the PEOPLE?
Was Street Farming your bag, or Appropriate Tech?
Were you Vanguard or Fundo when the movement divided?
Did you hug the trunk of a tree or stand on a pillar?
Did you vote for your choice, or were you Saving the Whale,
Embracing the Base and cutting the wire?
Page 2 of 21
