Transport
We have campaigned on a wide variety of transport issues in the past
including campaigns to improve local transport, increase travel by rail
and currently to prevent a major expansion of the aviation industry.
We have quite recently set up a transport campaigning group called
Greener Options York (GO York). If you want to get involved, please
contact Andy at andychase2(at)yahoo.co.uk
Currently a major local issue is the proposal to dual the northern outer ring road of York. Please sign the petition against it.
York council has produced a local transport plan. In addition to the information about transport available on the Friends of the Earth website, a useful summary of the current action needed to tackle traffic problems can be found on the Transport 2000 website. The CTC has lots of useful information about campaigning on cycling issues.
Another campaign of relevance to York is the campaign against urban 4 x 4s. For information about this campaign see http://www.stopurban4x4s.org.uk. The organizers of this site will be happy to provide you with 'parking tickets' to place on gas-guzzlers urging them to stop using a vehicle which contributes so significantly towards causing climate change.
York is fortunate to have a local expert on transport, Anna Semlyen, who has written a book called "Cutting your car use".
Aviation
"Join the new class for grounded greens" is the call from York's
very
own very special No Miles
High Club. In addition to the saved carbon you can save yourself
some money with the membership bonuses!
The reason:
Aviation is the most rapidly rising source of greenhouse gas
emissions. Despite this there are plans to increase the size and
capacity of aiports all over the country including Leeds/Bradford
Airport. Currently emissions from aviation and shipping are not counted
by the government as part of the UK's emissions, so there is no
obligation to reduce them and they are not currently included in the
emissions being considered in the Draft Climate Change Bill
although
Friends of the Earth and several government committees have urged the
government to include them. For more information about aviation see Airportwatch, the Friends of
the Earth website aviation section or Greenskies www.greenskies.org. Also the
Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research has produced reports
on aviation and climate change. The above picture is from enoughsenough.org. You can
also go to Stop
Heathrow Expansion and sign a petition.
What you can do about transport issues within Friends of the Earth
You can help us by joining our national campaigns on transport issues or you can choose to campaign on local transport issues. For more information on transport issues in the Yorkshire region see the website of the Yorkshire and the Humber Transport Roundtable.