Can you attend via photo? Just take a picture of yourself, your family and friends, holding car keys and email it to us. At the hearing we’ll present thousands of photos with this message: EPA Holds the Key to Clean Cars! Add Your Photo to our Petition! Send your photo to: sierraclubcleancars@gmail.com Click the Key to learn more. See who’s already signed: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sierraclub/sets/72157614384843260/
Source (TreeHugger)
That’s a Lot of Tailpipes
It wasn’t so long ago that we wrote about China’s 168 million motor vehicles (if you count everything), or about how taxes went up on big vehicles (though fuel is heavily subsidized, encouraging waste). Well, China’s not a country to stand still, even in this economy. The latest numbers for “private cars” are out and 2008 saw a 28% increase.
Click here to read more.
(Source: TreeHugger)
The New N-700 Series Bullet Trains
While the U.S. is finally planning to spend some $8 billion to start thinking about high-speed rail services, Treehugger has noted that other countries are way ahead. Case in point: Japan is now extending its widely popular Shinkansen super-fast train network to the island of Kyushu, with new N700 Series trains from Hitachi and Kawasaki Heavy Industries. If you like fast trains, the N700 has a maximum speed of 300 km/h (185 mph). The video notes that these new trains are “ecology” and the N700 reduces power consumption by 19%.
Photo: Comparing the Shinkansen 500 and 700 series, from wikipedia Photo: N700 Shinkansen from The Mainichi
The TGV and the Eurostar also clock in at around the same speeds. Tilting of up to one degree allows trains to maintain 270 km/h even on 2,500 m radius curves that usually has a maximum speed of 255 km/h.
Another feature of the N700 is that it accelerates quicker than other Shinkansen trains, with an acceration rate of 2.6 km/h/s. This enables it to reach 270 km/h in only three minutes.
Click here to read the entire article and to see the video of the new N-700 series trains.
(Source: TreeHugger)
Rail station in Shanghai, China (photo via thetransportpolitic.com)
About a year ago, TreeHugger interviewed Andy Kunz, an urban designer, New Urbanist and rail advocate. Kunz laid out a pretty convincing case for high speed rail as the solution for a number of problems facing American transportation, including outdated infrastructure, peak oil (or “energy independence,” depending how you look at it), out of control carbon emissions, and more.
In fact, Kunz said, we were at a fork in the road, and building a new national high-speed rail network was the “single most important action we can do to get us off the oil and change the direction of the nation for the better.” TreeHugger decided to catch up with Andy Kunz for another conversation about rail and high-speed rail in America, now that it seems the idea is finally catching on.
TreeHugger: Andy, a lot has happened since we last spoke about a year ago. The concept of high-speed rail in America, which a year ago was on very few people’s agendas, has now become an almost mainstream idea. Transit ridership is way up all over, and a high-speed rail line has been approved in California. As an advocate for high-speed rail, how have you experienced the events of the past year?
Andy Kunz: With great excitement! It’s really amazing what has changed and how quickly! It’s truly an unbelievable time in the history of America – unfolding as we speak. I am of course very saddened to see the suffering this recession is causing, and it’s unfortunate that we have to go through such a big disaster to change our ways. It would be so much easier and less painful if we just planned these changes during normal times.
Nonetheless, the fact that so many people are discovering rail as a great form of transportation is spectacular! We are entering a new green era that includes green living, green energy, and green transportation. Out of this I see a huge opportunity to fundamentally change America for the better with high quality rail transportation and great walkable communities for everyone.
Click here to read the rest of this interesting interview.
