Agreed. although my worry with the closed-list system is that it makes parties, not people, the main thing we vote for. This feels like a barrier to entry for independents, and a way of propping up the power of established parties. It also feels like it removes voters' ability to reject a politician that happens to be popular within the party, or to support a more maverick politician who doesn't toe the party line but who resonates with the public.
br3d
This is greenwashing. Global aviation uses almost 100 billion gallons of fuel per year. If we even began to address a fraction of that with magic new fuels (which won't happen) it would require incredible amounts of growing, and if we had that sort of amount of agricultural capacity available on this planet, capable of producing crops at a price the aviation industry is prepared to pay, we wouldn't have any hunger on the world.
Don't fall for this. There isn't such a thing as green aviation. I'm not saying there should be no flying, but we can't carry on as we are and magic away the consequences. In particular, don't fall for the snake oil salesmen trying to distract you with appealing non-solutions
Hard to get too excited when Norway funds all this by selling fossil fuels
It would have a massive effect. Transport (car) emissions are one of the larger - and growing - sources of emissions.
And we can't hide behind "But the corporations..." because ultimately what they produce gets used by us.
So to answer your question: riding a bike when Global Capital wants you to keep buying cars and pumping oil into them is one of the best acts of defiance you can make
If it's a tiny bit of comfort, you probably don't need a new derailleur, just a new cassette with the right spacing. The mech itself will likely work with different cable-pull, as long as you're not drastically changing the number of sprockets on the cassette
If people are driving with appropriate skill and care, the number driving into large, well-lit buildings should be approximately zero per year. It sounds like you're willing to excuse a lot of bad driving
There's a substantial body of research on how mythbusting lies can be counterproductive because as part of doing so, you repeat the lie and this helps people remember it.
Also, and this is more speculative, but surely there's probably some survivor bias here? There are probably many thousands of populists neither of us has ever heard of because they haven't had their voices amplified.
Don't give these people publicity
Plumbers don't carry massive heavy plant. But I know you were just picking a concrete example of a business there so let's not dwell on that particular case. The real point is that if a business causes damage to the roads that has to be repaired, it should contribute an appropriate amount. If that makes the cost of doing business more expensive, that just has to get passed on to the customer - who, ultimately, is the one having the heavy stuff transported
Here in the UK, I've seen bloody sushi restaurants and hairdressers drive branded pickup trucks FFS. No tax exemptions for businesses. As another poster noted, the damage is being done and needs to be paid for - it doesn't magically not matter because it was done in the course of somebody using the road for their business
Please, people, don't buy cheap ebikes from Amazon's, AliExpress, etc. Buy from a reputable brand and dealer.
Interestingly, my family subscription more or less halved a few months ago, which I was NOT expecting, but which was very welcome