[Carfreeliving] British motoring organization promotes bicycling

[Leah Shahum]

This is FANTASTIC! I'm going to forward this to 
someone I know who works at AAA. If only the 
Brits were in charge here.....


At 11:25 PM -0700 9/11/05, Tom Radulovich wrote:
>The RAC tells motorists to get on their bikes as petrol costs spiral
>
>Juliette Jowit, Heather Stewart and Gaby Hinsliff
>Sunday September 11, 2005
>
>Observer
>
>'Get out of your car and take up cycling' has 
>been the message of environmental groups for 
>decades.
>Now it has become the unlikely slogan of the 
>RAC, one of Britain's leading motoring 
>organisations and a friend of the driver for 
>more than 100 years.
>The RAC is issuing the advice to persuade 
>drivers to save fuel as it warned that higher 
>petrol prices are here to stay.
>The RAC - better known for its opposition to 
>'attacks on motorists' like road charging and 
>speed humps - says one in five car journeys is 
>under 1.5 miles and therefore unnecessary.
>'You could easily walk, cycle, take the bus, 
>without putting yourself at any great hardship,' 
>said Edmund King, executive director of the RAC 
>Foundation, the organisation's policy wing.
>The surprise advice came as protesters are 
>threatening to mount blockades of fuel 
>refineries this week in protest at the high duty 
>on petrol, which is threatening to top £1a litre.
>Yesterday, however, Chancellor Gordon Brown 
>raised hopes for a cut in petrol duty to ease 
>the pain of Britain's motorists, after he 
>blocked a Europe-wide agreement against tax 
>reductions to cushion the oil shock.
>The Chancellor will also call this week for 
>Britain to reduce its dependency on oil, 
>switching to greener renewable energy instead.
>At a meeting of the 25 European finance 
>ministers in Manchester this weekend, Brown 
>refused to endorse a promise by eurozone finance 
>ministers not to take 'special tax measures to 
>lower excise duties or VAT rates', as a response 
>to surging prices.
>After the meeting the Chancellor would not rule 
>out reducing excise duty in Britain, saying 'any 
>further announcements that we make are 
>announcements in the pre-Budget Report'.
>Later this year Brown is also expected to 
>confirm the second successive annual freeze in 
>fuel duty, but the Treasury is expected to bank 
>a windfall of £1.5bn in extra VAT and tax on oil 
>company profits as a result of the recent surge 
>in prices.
>Earlier in the week the Treasury dismissed calls 
>for variable fuel duty - which would be cut if 
>petrol went above a certain prices, or increased 
>if it dropped much lower. 'We never rule things 
>out; it's just not something I can see us 
>bringing forward at the moment,' a spokesman 
>told The Observer
>Instead the finance ministers focused on 
>increasing supply to try to ease the world oil 
>shortages, blamed on disruptions caused by the 
>war in Iraq and damage by Hurricane Katrina to 
>operations in the Gulf of Mexico.
>The EU is urging the major oil-producing regions 
>of Russia, Norway and Opec to increase 
>production, and member states called on oil 
>companies to boost investment in oil exploration 
>as well as alternative energy sources.
>
>Sources said the events of the last two weeks 
>had given 'a real impetus' to alternative 
>energy. 'We have got to do something, so we are 
>not so vulnerable to these shocks and in the 
>longer term we are able to get things more 
>stable,' said a senior Treasury source.
>
>Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005
>
>
>
>
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-- 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Leah Shahum
Executive Director
San Francisco Bicycle Coalition

WE'VE MOVED!
Please note my new mailing address and phone extension.

San Francisco Bicycle Coalition
995 Market St Ste 1550
San Francisco CA 94103
415/431-BIKE x-306 voice
415/431-2468 fax


|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
|       __o          SF BICYCLE COALITION        ___       __0    |
|     _`\<,_          Promoting the Bike        |___|    _ \<,_   |
|    (*)/ (*)       for Everyday Transport       (*)+---(*)/ (*)  |
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|   995 Market St. #1550 SF 94103  415.431.BIKE  www.sfbike.org   |
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