We have as much road capacity today as we will ever need.
In my efforts to get Portland, Oregon's Peak Oil Task Force, [which identifies problems and solutions related to dwindling oil supplies], into Vancouver, I've run up against hurdles from the business community as well as from the climate community. So I've been really interested in saying, "Okay, how do we collectively start to get past our differences and focus on the commonalities?"If we are investing in efforts on climate strategies that do nothing to address oil dependence, then we are really missing an opportunity to be strategic about how we use time and money. Energy security is important; emissions and climate change are important; but let's prioritize those strategies that address both. In terms of what we do immediately, we should be focusing on strategies that reduce both emissions and oil dependence.When you start to look at peak oil and climate change, it all comes down to how quickly they happen. Technology plays a big role, but it doesn't get us all the way. Part of what I am trying to do is to show the scale issues and the speed issues. It's the idea that the energy transition isn't just about technology; it isn't just about cultural transformation; it isn't just about the economy or anything else. It's about all of these things together, and how quickly they change.On the transportation side, I look at our history of investing in infrastructure. We spent (and are spending) billions and billions of dollars creating the interstate-highway system, and increasing the size of our airports and ports. There is this default assumption that we are going to keep growing those things bigger and bigger, off into whatever kind of future we imagine. I protest that sort of assumption-that everything we are doing is about getting bigger and bigger.Ultimately, sustainability means coming to terms with natural biophysical limits. So we have to get past this idea of planning around extrapolation of past trends. That the future may be different than the past is the first thing that we need to come to terms with. This is where the idea of peak roads comes in: If we can say to ourselves, "We have as much road capacity today as we will ever need," then we can start to ask what that means in terms of how we should actually start designing our cities. This shouldn't be thought of as a default "anti-roads" statement. But our numerical models show that we simply may not have enough fuel (and biofuel, and electric cars) to use more road capacity than what we have today.If we can start to grapple with the fact that we can actually get better instead of getting bigger, then we have started on the path towards sustainability. And I think until we can really wrap our heads around that we are fighting an uphill battle.
Between the bras, makeup, periods, catcalling, sexism, impossible-to-attain beauty standards, and heels, most men wouldn't survive being a woman for a day without having a complete mental breakdown. So here's a slideshow of some of the funniest Tumblr posts about the everyday struggles that women face that men would never understand.
In some states, women are put through humiliating and dangerous pre-abortion medical consultations and waiting periods before being allowed to undergo the procedure. In four states, women are even forced to bury or cremate the fetal remains after the procedure.
These government-mandated roadblocks and punitive shaming serve no purpose but to make it more difficult, emotionally damaging, and expensive for women to have an abortion.
There are two types of people in this world – those who panic and fill up their cars with gas when the needle hits 25% or so, and people like me who wait until the gas light comes on, then check the odometer so you can drive the entire 30 miles to absolute empty before coasting into a gas station on fumes.
If you ask people what they think the “perfect" body looks like, you're sure to get a range of answers, depending on where the person is from. Last year, Superdrug Online Doctor created a project, “Perceptions of Perfection" that showed what people in 18 countries think the “perfect" woman looks like. The project was a viral hit.
This time, they asked graphic designers—11 women and eight men—in 19 countries to photoshop the same image to highlight the male beauty standards for their country.
It's not revolutionary news that smoking wreaks havoc on your body in different ways. More often than not, however, the focus of anti-smoking campaigns is on your internal health, citing emphysema, heart disease, and lung cancer, to name just a few consequences.
While the superficial effects may not be as lethal, appealing to people's sense of vanity can have a powerful effect as this clever gallery below shows. Twins, only one of whom smokes, sit side by side, showing the profound damage smoking can cause to your face, hair, and teeth.
Body autonomy means a person has the right to whatever they want with their own body.
We live in a world where people are constantly telling women what they can or can't do with their bodies. Women get it form all sides — Washington, their churches, family members, and even doctors.