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Culture Change print magazine issues: 20  19  18  17  16  15  14  13  12  11  10  9  8  index

Pedal Power solutions to petroleum dependence and polluting vehicles: Arcata Library Bikes, Pedal Power Produce, and more!

CAOE - Committee Against Oil Exploration - stop offshore oil drilling to protect sensitive habitats and cut petroleum dependence.

Culture Change through music! The Depavers eco-rock!

Take our Pledge for Climate Protection and learn about the Global Warming Crisis Council.

SEI hometown action!
Arcata city council's proclamation against war on Iraq and Kyoto Protocol proclamation.

Overpopulation has become a reality.  Overpopulation Resources and News Tidbits

Sail Transport Network

Fact Sheets
Interviews
Press Releases
APM
Links

Long Distance

 

Hitchhiker's clubs springing up in U.S.

by Remy Chevalier

Remember when you could cross the country hitchhiking in just a few days? I do, Iím old enough. I did it dozens of times, from New York to LA, from New York to Florida. I would simply pack a bag and stick my thumb out at the nearest highway ramp. Back in the early ë70s, rarely an hour went by I did not get a good ride. But times have changed. A couple of rapes and murders, an oil sponsored media using that for scare tactics, and hitchhiking died in America.

Something is about to bring it back, bigger, better! For years I would tell people I had this terrific idea to make hitchhiking safe and practical again. But they would shrug, or worse, laugh at me. It seemed hopeless. My idea was a simple one really. A Hitchhikerís Club, with membership cards, like concert passes, supervised by a large organization. People would join for a small fee, as either rider or driver, and go through a security check.

You would then be able to stand by the curb with a large size membership card around your neck, a photo ID with a highly visible and recognizable logo, and wait for a driver who had the same card pasted on his windshield or dangling from his rearview mirror. You would check each otherís cards first, and then get a ride in relative safety with a mutual bond of trust established by being members of the same club. Today, with cell phones and onboard computers, such safety checks would be made that much easier.

I know a lot of people in the electric vehicle industry who would support such an idea. Auto-Free Times (Culture Change) told me about GO GERONIMO. Turns out a group in Californiaís San Geronimo Valley had the same idea in 1996 and their club already has 125 riders and 275 drivers. Background checks are done by the Marin County Sheriffís Department.

In theory, a national Hitchhiking Club could drastically reduce the numbers of cars on the road. It would uncomplicate car pooling and make it a way of life. The ideal institution to oversee a national hitching program would be the American Automobile Association. But something tells me it wonít be that simple. Why would they sponsor a program that could theoretically cut down on car and gasoline sales? So it needs to start elsewhere. What better way than clubs with a youth-oriented, green philosophy?

You can start your own club where you live, with your own schools, your own police department, and use GO GERONIMO as a model. Many little clubs around the country will set the trend and eventually merge into a national program.

GO GERONIMO P. O. Box 304 San Geronimo, CA 94963 (415) 488-8888 http://www.gogeronimo.org

Remy Chevalier is starting a new green fashion magazine and can be contacted at 25 Newtown Turnpike, Weston, CT 06883 tel. (203) 227-2065

 

Are you ready for the FALL OF PETROLEUM CIVILIZATION?

Articles of interest:
Measuring and controlling the actions of governments 


Anti-globalization protest grows, with tangible results. 
WTO protests page

Tax fossil-fuel energy easily
by Peter Salonius 

UK leader calls War on Terror "bogus"

Argentina bleeds toward healing by Raul Riutor

The oil industry has plans for you: blow-back by Jan Lundberg

It's not a war for oil? by Adam Khan

How to create a pedestrian mall by Michelle Wallar

The Cuban bike revolution

How GM destroyed the U.S. rail system excerpts from the film "Taken for a Ride".

"Iraqi oil not enough for US: Last days of America?"

Depaving the world by Richard Register

Roadkill: Driving animals to their graves by Mark Matthew Braunstein

The Hydrogen fuel cell technofix: Spencer Abraham's hydrogen dream.

 

Ancient Forest Protection in Northern California. Forest defenders climb trees to save them.

Daniel Quinn's thoughts on this website.

A case study in unsustainable development is the ongoing crisis in Palestine and Israel.

Renewable and alternative energy information.

Conserving energy at home (Calif. Title 24)


Culture Change mailing address: P.O. Box 3387 , Santa Cruz , California 95063 USA
  Telephone 1-215-243-3144 (and fax)
Web: http://www.culturechange.org
E-Mail info@culturechange.org

Culture Change was founded by Sustainable Energy Institute (formerly Fossil Fuels Policy Action), a nonprofit torganization.