Want a free ride? French cities opt for free public transport

France 24 : "To fight traffic congestion, pollution and other challenges that plague modern cities, an increasing number of French towns are choosing to make their public transport networks completely free."

Taiwan needs get off oil -- refinery explodes in Taiwan

Xinhua: "TAIPEI, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- An oil refinery exploded in Taiwan's Taoyuan city at 6:42 a.m. Monday, local media reported."

Taiwan killing its own people

Taiwanese non-smokers twice as likely to get #lungcancer as heavy smokers in West https://t.co/etENyfYvMS pic.twitter.com/TLKW6dZiMW

— Taiwan News (@TaiwanNews886) January 24, 2018

Fossil fuel demand destroying the biosphere

A costly message from the Sanchi | The Japan Times: "Of more immediate concern is the spill’s impact on maritime life where the Sanchi sank. Those waters are an important spawning ground for fish and crab, as well as a migratory pathway for marine animals, including three species of whale. This accident will further strain an area already polluted — the result of hundreds of ship collisions as well as runoff from industries on shore — and overfished as aquaculture there increased by 1,200 percent over the last three decades. With the annual fish catch in the Yellow Sea expanding from 0.2 to 2.2 million tons over 50 years, it is no surprise that 60 of 194 marine species are thought to be at risk of extinction."

Atmospheric CO2 concentration accelerating

Open Mind: "Not only is the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere on the rise, the rise itself has been getting faster — so CO2 concentration has been accelerating. "

American saves USD 8,000 per year by not owning a car.

The Urbanist: "Accounting for all of this and sparing the dry calculations, at a minimum I’m saving an astounding $8,000 annually. This is remarkably consistent with the savings Zipcar reports from its membership. $8,000 is a huge a portion of my income. If I wanted to own a car but save the same amount elsewhere in the budget I’d need to string out my student loan debt many more years or cut my rent in half, which is nigh-impossible in the Seattle housing market. Owning a car would doubtlessly be a net financial loss–not to mention the effects on my carbon footprint and chance of serious injury."'

Not enough cobalt for techno dreams

bloomberg : "The projections have made the lustrous metal, a byproduct of copper and nickel mining, into one of the most coveted commodities. Its price surged 128 percent in the past 12 months, in part because hedge funds including Swiss-based Pala Investments stockpiled thousands of tonnes of the stuff, which is used to power everything from mobile phones to home electronics."

[PyeongChang 2018] Free public transportation during Olympics season

koreaherald : "Public transportation in the Olympic cities PyeongChang and Gangneung will be free of charge during the games.

The organizing committee for the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games and Paralympic Games said there will be 700 shuttle buses for 27 routes throughout the Olympics period. Passengers without Olympic tickets can also ride the buses for free."

Traffic congestion in Bali worse for tourism than volcano

Coconuts Bali: "The chairman of the Bali Organization of Land Transportation Owners (Organda) insists something needs to be done to improve public transportation in Bali, or there will be a strong impact on tourism."

Two ways to help the biosphere, Taiwan doing one of them

There are 1.2 million unoccupied homes in Taiwan, says Ministry of Interior | Taiwan News: "Currently the number of vacant homes in Taiwan is estimated to be about 1.2 million. That amounts to about 14 percent of 8.5 million homes nationwide being unoccupied."

The two ways to help the biosphere. Drop the birthrate. Reduce waste.

Taiwan is leading the world in falling birth rate. Now, let's make buses fare-free and put an end to cars and sprawl.