NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #31/NN_1992_31.iso/spool/sci/environm/13964

Internet Message Format | 1992-12-29 | 3.2 KB

Path: sparky!uunet!munnari.oz.au!uniwa!DIALix!tillage!gil
From: [e-mail] (Gil Hardwick)
Newsgroups: sci.environment
Subject: Alliance for a Paving Moratorium (Alert)
Distribution: world
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
References: <[e-mail]>
Date: Tue, 29 Dec 92 10:05:37 GMT
Organization: STAFF STRATEGIES - Anthropologists & Training Agents
Lines: 55


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] writes:

 > You should talk to your countryman, Peter Newman, from Fremantle.

Have indeed. But my talking to him, appreciating what he has to say,
having his books on my shelves, taking students of his through post-
graduate professional development training, and conducting my own
consultancy on community dynamics, is not necessarily persuading all
those suburban voters out there to get out of their cars, into light
rail carriages, or onto bicycles.

You might also like to actually *read* my other posts on this thread,
and yourself get some idea of what is *actually* happening down here
in this part of the world right now. But we are in a position to do
what we can, even then after some extremely bitter political battles,
while very few other places in the world can possibly come anywhere
near partially realising the dream you promote.

You simply do not appear to realise that the consumption of energy and
resources in an affluent (cf effluent) society is a power game, and you
might begin paying some attention to the realities of human behaviour
before you go about *demanding* that they do just what you want them to
do, for whatever good reason you might have. As mentioned to another,
you might instead settle down and work more closely with others with
experience in this field over the longer term instead of going around
beating your own drum so loudly. It just gets deafening and turns people
off, and is no use at all in educating people on what options might be
made available to them as time goes by.

At present I am far more busy researching and extending public access
to the Internet, than worrying about cars directly. By telecommuting I
have already cut down use of the car to about 15%, with the further
saving of office rent I have mentioned previously. The bicycle is in
the back shed accumulating dust and cobwebs until the boys get older,
when we might just go out riding together if they feel up to it.

BTW, since you know so much about who's who in the Land Down Under,
have you ever heard of Peter Pedal? He is a hippie dating from the
1960s who made a name for himself about twenty years ago by cycling
all over Australia promoting pedal power. Apart from the bike he had
with all these wonderful gizmos attached to it, he had fitted bicycle
pedals to all his household appliances, from his little portable flour
mill to his washing machine, even to a TV set via a 12 volt generator.

Really a totally awesome guy, believe me.

The company he started is now turning over about $1 million building
and supplying small pelton wheel generators to the "Third World" as an
"appropriate" hydro-electricity supply in small villages. Sure beats
all that pedalling at one treadmill or another all day (every day),
but there is no market in this country for the product.

Gil