|
|
| Nonprofit founded in 1988 |
|
|
SEI Project: In 1990, the anti-road movement first formed on a national basis in the U.S., when our organization united road fighters of all persuasions to stop all new road building and road widenings, paved and unpaved (asphalted and dirt type roads). The Alliance for a Paving Moratorium (APM), brainchild of oil analyst Jan Lundberg, stopped some highway construction for several years, beginning in 1990. We exempted from our moratorium the repair of existing key roads as well as bike paths or bike lanes. A national paving moratorium was conceived as a means of aiding AMTRAK, the national passenger railway system. The paving moratorium was and is needed to stop unfairly competitive and subsidized roads. APM was founded also as a peace proposal in the context of operation Desert Slaughter, aka the Gulf War. We became aware of the growing anti-road movement in Britain in the early 1990s, which was probably encouraged by our efforts that became known in the U.K. through our Paving Moratorium Update/Auto-Free Times magazine and other publications we appeared in such as the Earth First! Journal. Both magazines were circulated among activists and the public in Britain, the U.S., and elsewhere. The Alliance for a Paving Moratorium (which was certainly not against sidewalks, as some British people imagined by the confusion over the term paving) reached its peak in the late 1990s as we stopped roads in the U.S. and continued to influence activists and planners around the world. The anti-sprawl movement began to gel and no longer need our stimulus. Unfortunately, the movement was co-opted by those willing to compromise and allow some road building or paving. They call this Smart Growth, which is a development scheme with a greener image. The Sierra Club, a famous environmental organization whose founder's home is beset by an ugly, polluting freeway east of San Francisco, is not against new road building except in general terms. Like all large U.S. environmental groups except Friends of the Earth in Washington DC (District of Crooks), the Sierra Club refuses to endorse a moratorium on new roads and parking lots. The reason is that such a position would displease major funders and put off politicians who are almost all beholden to business interests. To remain unthwarted in our anti-asphalt and anti-car zeal, APM has engaged in major media campaigns and art projects, including an album by the Depavers featuring Jan Lundberg's songs. "Have a Global Warming Day" by the Depavers was heard around the world in 1997 from the Kyoto Climate Change Conference of the United Nations. Today in 2004 the Alliance for a Paving Moratorium's job would be easier than a decade ago, thanks to all our groundwork and the shifting feeling of the public against more sprawl and paving. However, funding against destructive development is severely constrained. Also, the funded environmental movement today mainly harps on "clean cars" and renewable energy instead of stopping pollution and sharply cutting back on petroleum use. The funded environmental movement does not acknowledge U.S. overpopulation or the huge dependence on petroleum (soon to become very short in supply as global production peaks imminently). See our new Road Fighting page. Back to home page |
|
