Say No to Non-electric Cars

Most modern cities have taken action to reduce traffic jams and improve air quality. But if they want to become more livable, they should think about more ambitious goals.

Amsterdam has set a good example. As from 2030, driving a gas vehicle there will not be allowed. The Dutch capital wants its citizens to become healthier and happier.【小题1】Amsterdam isn’t alone; it joins Hamburg, Madrid and other cities in moving toward at least partial car bans to reduce pollution.

The advantages of such plans are clear. 【小题2】It slows economic growth. Pollution from cars not only contributes to climate change but is also a threat to well-being. Amsterdam’s government says it reduces life expectancy of its citizens by a full year.

【小题3】 Electric cars, after all, are more expensive. And for most people, giving up driving means life will become less convenient. Perhaps cities can help make this switch easier. For example, they can think about improving public transportation. They can also design appealing public spaces for pedestrians (行人). 【小题4】 Technology can also do its part. Cities can be more open to new ways of getting around, such as bike-sharing, driverless cars and delivery drones(无人机).

Saying no to non-electric cars or even all cars is hard. 【小题5】 Making our cities more livable has to become an urgent goal.

UK supermarkets are producing more plastic waste despite promises to cut down, new re-search suggests, as sales of bags for life increase to 1.5 billion.

Retailers (零售商)were responsible for more than 900,000 tons of plastic waste in 2018, according to a report from the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) released Thursday. Seven of the 10 largest supermarket chains reported a higher plastic packaging tonnage in 2019 compared to last year, although exact figures for this year have not been released.

Compared to 2018, this year the number of sold eco-friendly bags for life rose by about 25%, the report stated. Campaigners said the rise showed that the bags are now being used by many as a replacement for single-use carrier bags.

Campaigners recommend that supermarkets increase the price of bags for life to 70 pence ($0.9). They point to the 90% reduction in bags for life sales in Ireland, where prices are set at 70 cents ($0.77). However, in an ideal world bags for life would be removed completely, enforced by a government ban, said campaigners.

“It's shocking to see that despite unprecedented (空前的)awareness of the pollution crisis, the amount of single-use plastic used by the UK's biggest supermarkets has actually increased in the past year,” said Juliet Phillips, EIA ocean campaigner. He added, “Our survey shows that grocery retailers need to tighten up targets to drive real reductions in single use packaging and items. We need to address our throwaway culture at it's root through systems change, not materials change. Substituting one single-use material for another is not the solution.”

The report reveals that plastic use among suppliers is also to blame, and supermarkets have failed to make them reduce plastic packaging. Tesco has led the way in this area, threatening to delist (退市)products for suppliers who fail to cut excessive plastic. Campaigners are urging other supermarkets to do the same.

Plastic waste is a global issue and various countries have taken action to reduce its impact.

Antarctic Tourism: Should We Just Say No?

More people are visiting Antarctic, the frozen continent than ever before. 【小题1】 This has brought a new urgency to the question of how much, if any, tourism should be allowed on the icy continent.

The distance most visitors travel to reach Antarctica makes carbon emissions a serious problem. 【小题2】 One study calculated that each tourist between 2016 and 2020 was effectively melting around 83 tonnes of snow, due largely to emissions from vacation ships.

【小题3】 The Antarctic Treaty, established in 1961 to provide governance for the continent, operates on a consultative basis, which means all 56 parties have to agree before a change can be put into action. The last major decision on tourism was a measure passed in 2009 that prohibits vacation ships carrying more than 500 passengers from making landings. That regulation has still not officially been carried out as not every signatory country has accepted it domestically.

There is clear agreement that something needs to change, but no agreement on what those changes should be. 【小题4】