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Marin Voice: Protecting this precious Earth
By Andi Peri
Marin IJ, April 22, 2010
ALL TOO OFTEN in our day-to-day lives, we forget to celebrate our amazing home, planet Earth, which gives us and all other species the means of life, including air, food and water.
To celebrate in a meaningful way is to deeply consider each and every one of our and our society's actions, and to contemplate their consequences to the Earth.
Despite this being the 40-year anniversary of Earth Day and despite the tremendous number of actions by millions of people to protect it, ecological destruction continues. All of the world's major life support systems continue to decline, exacerbated by the fact that the oceans are filling up with toxic chemicals and nonbiodegradable fossil-fuel-based plastic, the world's major fisheries are on the verge of collapse and planet Earth continues to warm from the burning of fossil fuels and emissions of other greenhouse gases.
While much of the debate on GHG emission reduction is rightly focused on energy production, another sector that needs far more attention is transportation.
In Marin, 62 percent of emissions stem from transportation. In Marin and throughout the nation, there are significant opportunities to reduce GHGs through developing and using transportation alternatives.
The Marin County Bicycle Coalition has been working for 12 years to make Marin a model for nonmotorized transportation. Through working with the county, cities and towns to build and promote bicycle infrastructure, we have seen bicycle ridership increase by 118 percent on weekdays and 125 percent on weekends since 1999.
Most people can walk and bike far more often than they currently do. Fifty percent of trips in America are three miles or less in length.
The vast majority of people in this country, young and old, could make more of these trips by bicycle or by walking. The benefits of doing so include reducing our dependency on foreign oil, decreasing our contribution of GHGs, easing congestion on roadways, and reducing air, land and water pollution.
Furthermore, more active lifestyles contribute to solving the nation's obesity epidemic, which costs our health care system more than $147 billion per year in obesity-related medical costs.
This year, Marin County will celebrate the opening of several new bicycle and pedestrian projects: the Cal Park Hill tunnel that connects Larkspur to San Rafael, the Lincoln Hill Pathway, which connects Puerto Suello Hill to downtown San Rafael, Alameda del Prado bike lanes in Novato and many other new facilities.
Over the next few years, we will also see the construction of the 70-mile SMART pathway, connecting Larkspur to Cloverdale in Sonoma County - each of these projects will help promote nonmotorized transportation here in Marin.
MCBC is also hoping to remove a significant bicycle/pedestrian barrier between Corte Madera and Mill Valley by working to get the Alto Tunnel opened. This would provide yet another flat, safe and separate bicycle/pedestrian facility in Marin.
By making a commitment to taking 5 percent, 10 percent or 20 percent of your trips by walking, bicycling or using transit and carpools, you are giving the gift of life to future generations by helping to slow the destructive forces associated with automobiles that are so deeply impacting the Earth's ecosystems and other life-support systems.
Earth Day is an opportunity for a deeper reflection about how we live our lives on planet Earth. It is an opportunity to develop understanding about how each and every one of our actions impact the Earth in either a negative or a positive way.
Let Earth Day 2010 be a reminder to live consciously and step (and ride) lightly on this precious Earth.
