In toxicity! Boo!
Hello soap box, nice to meet you. Mind if I step on top of you for a minute or so?
If you haven't seen the article yet, Forbes, which has also ranked us as one of the top places to be single, has jsut declared Atlanta the most toxic city in the US!
Read the article here
Wow. We beat out the entire nation on sucking so hard environmentally. Guess why New York did so well, dum dum dum, the Subway! If we all got out of our cars and on MARTA, we might not be forced to breathe in that crap.
Also, turn off your lights, people! Did you know that the number one use of water is actually to create electricity? So despite Atlanta's over-developmentation (is that a word? I think if I write it, it gets to be) and stealing water from the poor mussells, the coal-fire power plants are the biggest user of water in the state. And guess what else puts all those harmful chemicals into the air to add to all that toxicity? That's right, those same darn power plants! And now they're trying to build some more, which we don't even need! We don't need the additional base-line power these plants would produce if we all could conserve a little bit.
So here are your take-aways from todays rant:
1. Get out of your car!
2. Turn off some lights and unplug unnecessary appliances and electronics, like cell phone chargers and toasters, the stuff you don't use all the time.
3. Call your representives and advocate for transit funding and against more coal-fire power plants.
O - and vote! We just had some elections in the city yesterday which will now lead to a few run-offs. There are a few great candidates that still need your support. We have a chance to make a difference, so if you have time to volunteer for a campaign, hit the streets!
Thank you, and I'll shut up now.
:)
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
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There are the business people who feel they are "too good" to ride MARTA. They should really look at the transit riders in places like Chicago and New York. So many different socioeconomic levels will be present on one train, I hear.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a problem, but it can get better. I believe that.
So, please, don't shut up.
The whole mass transit debate is always a good topic to hit on especially when it comes to the enviornment. In places like New York City and Chicago the above ground traffic is so horrible that the subway cuts like an hour off your commute. I used to drive for 25 minutes from my home in North Caldwell, NJ and park my car so I could take a subway into Manhattan, because if I didn't I would have to leave my house 3 hours early. Of course unlike Chicago and NYC there is this stigma on mass transit, it is kind of sad. Then again I used to have a similar problem, but a few trips to places like Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria tend to fix that.
ReplyDeleteStigma, schmigma. I totally used to be one of those people but you get over it quickly once you sit down and do the math. I save at least $4.00/day by taking Marta to school instead of driving. However, I think that Marta could work a little harder to boost its image and reach out to some of the suburbanites who are afraid to ride public transit. Not everyone was "forced" into it the way that I was (leaving cushy corporate job to go back to school full time.) I understand that there's not a whole lot of money for marketing but I think that Marta needs an image makeover. It's kind of like the 15-year-old girl who just needs to get her braces off and start wearing contacts. It can be done.
ReplyDeleteI think that marketing the hell out of MARTA is the way to go. They need to let us rebrand their image, because, if we add a little bit of weight to the braces and glasses 15 year old bit, I think we can get suburbanites flocking to the train. I mean, how much weight have you lost since hoppin on MARTA, AC? Cause I know my butt has to haul some walking to catch the bus!
ReplyDeleteWe should totally market it as The Marta Diet. That'll get those Alpharetta housewives on board!
ReplyDeleteStigma flies out the window in the face of economics. The Alpharetta #143 was packed to the gills with all sorts of people when gas was at its record high last year. You either need a dense transit network or a good incentive. We have neither now.
ReplyDeleteI, for one, will never complain about the cost of gas!
ReplyDelete