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GLOBAL WARMING!

EPA's Climate Change Site offers comprehensive information on the issue of climate change in a way that is accessible and meaningful to all parts of society – communities, individuals, business, states and localities, and governments.

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Global Warming Frequently Asked Questions

Global Warming - from the Wiki
Read about the global warming and climate crisis debate, with information about warming's causes and its effects on life on Earth. Wikipedia's user-written overviews are great ...

The Global Warming International Center disseminates information on global warming science and policy, serving governmental and non-governmental organizations, and industries in more than 120 countries.

Global Warming - Union of Concerned Scientists
Find facts and features about the global warming phenomenon from the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nonprofit group. Includes information about changing local conditions.

CAN HOME PAGE Global network of NGOs working to promote government and individual action to ... a process to ensure that the global community is able to meet the challenge ...

StopGlobalWarming.org
Features a Virtual March on Washington to raise awareness locally and highlight real solutions.

Global warming kids site
Lots on the science and impacts of global warming or climate change, and on actions ... Students can learn about things that cause air pollution and what they can do to ...

The global warming page of the Sierra Club is a portal to information about ... It starts with an overview on global warming and energy and has links to timely subjects.

Global Warming Sites Online	by king5021
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There are tons of vacation trips you can book and find great travel deals for any vacation. You would be suprised to know that cruises are more popular over some of the top ski vacations. So if you are trying to book a trip and travel around the world, find deals online.

BGreenSmart....Down to Earth News and Views

Interesting Stuff - Ecology and railroads

January 7, 1929 The New York Central Railroad's "20th Century Limited" runs a record seven identical sections. Eight hundred twenty two people pay the extra $10 fare to ride The Century. An automobile show in New York City gets the credit for this sudden increase in traffic. Combined with other special trains arriving for the show, a record 266 sleeping cars arrive at Grand Central Terminal between 5:00 am and 9:50 am. This is very interesting. It was a harbinger of things to come: the impact of the auto on passenger train travel. I bet Al Gore understands what a high speed rail system (plus good commuter rail systems) would do for the "fuel bill"! DO YOU?

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Public Transport Around the World Webring

Public Transport Around the World Webring	by k_kinlock
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Public transportation and railroad commuters

Now, lets introduce commuters, passenger trains, urban issues, and cultural issues.

Commuter trains run throughout the Chicago area. Interestingly they don't run on the EJ&E tracks because they basically follow the routes of the former passener railroads. Most railroad passengers today are commuters. Chicago has the greatest concentration of passenger carrying lines after the metropolitan New York area. Over the years, it was probably the most varied as far as equipment was concerned. Before the RTA (Regional Transit Authority) consolidation, movements were diesel-powered, electric-powered and included interurbans. The RTA is a coordinating agency for commuter rail. It provides subsidies to Burlington Northern, Northwestern, Illinois Central and N&W (ex-Wabash). The Chicago, South Shore & South Bend is operated jointly with the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District. The NICTD acquired ownership of that line from the Chessie System. An RTA subsidiary, the Northern Illinois Railroad Corporation operates commuter trains over former Milwaukee and Rock Island lines. Some of the rolling stock and stations are owned by local transit districts.

A real story for this era is how General Motors, Ford and Chrysler reshaped American ground transportation to serve their corporate wants instead of social needs.

As a result of their monopolistic structure, the Big Three automakers acted in a way detrimental to public interest. GM had control of auto, truck, bus and locomotive production. We are seeing a collapse of a society based on the automobile. We have consumed too much oil, polluted the atmosphere, and turned our cities into highways and parking lots. We see a government bias in favor of highways, failure to produce transport vehicles consistent with energy/environmental restraints, and a consumer dependence on the auto.

GM had the power and economic incentive to suppress rail and bus transportation: one bus can eliminate 35 automobiles; one rail transit vehicle can supplant 50 passenger cars; one train can displace 1000 cars or a fleet of 150 cargo-laden trucks.

GM had a role in the destruction of more than 100 electric surface rail systems in 45 cities including New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, St. Louis, Oakland, Salt Lake City and Los Angeles. In southern California, GM and other highway interests acquired local transit companies and replaced them with busses. The noisy, foul-smelling busses turned people away from mass transit and therefore sold millions of automobiles.

General Motors received a criminal conviction for its part in monopolizing street transportation. In spite of this, GM continued to acquire and dieselize electric transit properties into 1955. 40,000 streetcars were in service in 1936 when National City Lines was organized by GM. By 1955, only 5,000 remained. While substituting buses for electric street railways helped GM stockholders, it deprived the riding public of a pollution free and energy efficient mode of transportation.

Substitution of buses for streetcar lines contributed indirectly to the abandonment of electric railway freight service. Merchants used to rely on this service to deliver goods and interchange with railroads. For instance, Pacific Electric was once the third largest freight railroad in California. It just proved uneconomical to maintain city track for freight-only. General Motors even benefited from this demise. They also sold trucks! They even used to have an interest in Associated Transport and Consolidated Freightways.

GM used its leverage as the largest freight shipper to coerce railroads to scrap their equipment, including pollution-free electrics, in favor of less durable, less efficient GM diesels. New Haven Railroad showed a profit during 50 years of electrification but started heavy losses after it dieselized its operations.

General Motors diversification into bus transportation: (1) shifted passengers from rail to bus and eventually into automobiles; and (2) shifted freight from rail to truck. An additional factor was GM's integration into locomotive production. In 1930, they acquired Winton Engine and Electro-Motive. Unfortunately, GM could make 25 to 30 times more gross revenue selling cars and trucks than it could diesel locomotives.

In 1956 the government sued General Motors for monopolization of the bus industry and requested divestiture of its bus production facilities. The case was a failure for the government because GM had combined bus and truck production within the same facilities. A few years later the Justice Department started and then abandoned an antitrust case against GM Locomotive.

Many of the anti-competitive forces of the automobile industry could be diffused by a remedy suggested several years ago by Bradford C. Snell of the International Conference on Appropriate Transportation. First, deconcentration of the motor vehicle industry would reduce the automakers ability to pass on the cost of their anti-rail lobbying to consumers. Second, reorganization of GM's bus and rail divisions into independent corporations would enable them to operate free from the conflict of interest they currently have. Finally, the facilitation of entry by a number of new bus and rail enterprises would provide competitive capability to build a modern passenger and freight transport system.

It has been the policy of Congress in the past to maintain competition by prohibiting common control of competing modes of transport. The Air Mail Act of 1934 forced GM to sell its interests in several airlines. GM also had interests in several aircraft manufacturers. At that time, GM chairman Sloan implied to Congress that his company had entered the aviation industry to protect its interests in the promotion of automobiles.

At one time there were more than 150 competing manufacturers of bus and rail vehicles. The technological development of these vehicles stopped in the 1930's.

In Europe and Japan, where there is a limited amount of common auto/rail/bus ownership, there are much more balanced transportation systems.

GM owned Hertz from 1925 to 1953. Because it was perceived to lessen sales of cars, GM limited its growth. Its success after disposition by GM shows what could happen to bus and rail operations.

General Motors got into bus production in 1925 by acquiring Yellow Coach. In 1926 they assisted in the formation of the Greyhound Corporation. 1932 saw GM going into the business of converting interurban electric railways as well as electric streetcar systems to bus operations. Due to the high cost of operation and slow speed on congested streets, buses ultimately contributed to the collapse of hundreds of transit systems.

Several railroads converted substantial portions of their commuter rail service with buses: Pennsylvania Greyhound Lines (Pennsylvania RR); Central Greyhound Lines (New York Central); Pacific Greyhound Lines (Southern Pacific); New England Greyhound Lines (New York, New Haven & Hartford); Northland Greyhound Lines (Great Northern); and Southwestern Greyhound Lines (St. Louis Southwestern Railroad). The railroads were eventually forced out of ownership by the government. By 1950, Greyhound carried half as many intercity passengers as the railroads. Until 1948, General Motors was the largest stockholder in Greyhound.

General Motors used various devices to convert street car lines to bus. At first, United Cities Motor Transit was directly owned by GM and would buy electric street car companies, convert them to GM motorbus operation, and then resell them. After being censured by the American Transit Association, GM went "undercover" with other organizations, primarily National City Lines, Inc. Other participants in National City Lines were Greyhound, Standard Oil of California and Firestone Tire. By reselling properties after conversion, they were assured that capital was continually reinvested in the motorization of additional systems. The biggest GM "triumph" was California's Pacific Electric. Within a 75-mile radius of Los Angeles, it carried 80 million people annually. In 1949, GM, Greyhound, Standard Oil and Firestone were found guilty of criminally conspiring to monopolize the sale of buses. General Motors was fined $5,000! The GM treasurer who masterminded the destruction of Pacific Electric was fined $1!

How many gallons of foreign oil does it take to fill this thing?
Trains can be powered by electricity generated by home-grown coal. Believe it or not, they are all over the Chicago suburbs.

Politicians and their asphalt-lobby friends think "Busways" are the answer!
Not really! Get serious about mass transit. This is what many people think mass transit still looks like. See the pictures below of the new tram system in Nice, France for a state-of-the-art mass transit system.

Click on pictures at right to enlarge. Find more about the new Nice,France Tramway

Golf in Nice and the French Riviera
Golf in Northwest France

Golf in Laurentides / Laurentians Region of Quebec
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Garbage Trucks, the environment needs them!!! See more on old vehicles.

What is the impact on our ecology?

In a nutsell freight railroads are more efficient and more "green-friendly" than over the highway trucks or air freight. Likewise passenger railroads are more efficient and more "green-friendly" than automobiles, airplanes or even busses. The EJ&E and most other North Amerian railroads use diesel-electric locomotives. More fuel efficient and less emissions come from electrified railroads. This pratice is utilized more in Europe.

What is a GREEN RAILROAD? .

Did you know that railroads are one of the most environmentally friendly modes of freight transportation? It's true. Freight trains are three times more fuel-efficient than over-the-road trucks and have less of an impact on air emissions than trucks.

Window on Europe
Europe is different than North America; France is different than the United States. Enery saving is more of an issue than in the United States. The U.S. at least drills some of its own oil, while France buys it all with hard Euros. Cars are smaller. The population is more open to public transportation. The establised rail network is like the United States was in the 1950's before the Interstate highway system and cheap air fares retrenched it to a minimal system called Amtrak. Some observations from my perch in Nice (Southern France near the Italian border). Lots of freight. German coal trains to and from Italy hauled by a single Alstom electric locomotive. More and more an empasis on using trailers on flat cars (except new, unique quick loading systems are used). Yes, there is an Autoroute. You pay big bucks to use it and it is crowded. Finally, transportation at the local level. The rail line from Nice to Monaco sees many commuters as Monaco is small and the workers must commute. AND the new tramway in Nice. Like the U.S., they got rid of their old one in 1953. But the new one is NOT the old one!

Old Tram and New Tram

The Central Control Room

"Poste de Commandement Centralisé" or "P.C.C." is located in an office tower above the maintenance center. It is the true nerve center of the network, in operation 24 hours a day.

It manages the tram and bus lines on a real time basis and is directly connected to the trams and the stations by an electronic communications system. Tram locations are obtained by GPS (Global Positioning Satellite).

The Poste de Commandement Centralisé exercises real time flow of the trams (switches, signals, electric sub-stations, etc). The PCC manages communications with travellers (loudspeaker announcements, digital display boards for passenger information, answering calls from the telephones located in stations, etc).

The Poste de Commandement Centralisé is connected to a network of video cameras, and is responsible for travellers' safety in both the trams and the stations.

View of Nice from the Poste de Commandement Centralisé. The office tower provides a great view of the city of Nice. The tramway heads down Boulevard Comte de Falicon on it's 8.7 km path to Pont Michel. Initially, 20 trams will cover the 21 stations and are expected to carry 60,000 riders per day. The trams operate on overhead contact lines carrying 750 volt direct current. Exceptions at busy Place Masséna and Place Garibaldi require use of onboard batteries. The Las Planas Parcazur, connected to the Las Planas tram station, provides adequate park and ride facilities, plus connection to the bus system.

Carbon Calculator
What's the most environmentally-friendly way to transport goods? The answer is freight rail. The EPA estimates that every ton-mile of freight that moves by rail instead of by highway reduces greenhouse emissions by two-thirds. But what does that really mean? Our easy-to-use carbon calculator will estimate the amount of carbon dioxide that can be prevented from entering our environment just by using freight rail instead of trucks. We'll even tell you how many seedlings you'd need to plant to have the same effect.

Impact of the Tramway on Nice

The "Green Prince"

Fiscal paradise Monaco has led the small countries of the world in the campaign to heighten awareness of environmental issues since Prince Albert became Sovereign in 2005, and has launched a radical plan of its own to cut carbon emissions.

One of the first acts Prince Albert took when succeeding to the throne upon his father's death was to sign the Kyoto Protocol. Along with the USA and Australia, Monaco was one of the few countries not to sign up to the treaty intended to cut greenhouses gases.

Included in a campaign by Prince Albert to protect the environment has been an expedition to the Arctic to see for himself how global warming has begun to melt the glaciers, and shortly after his return he started a foundation to study rising sea levels and how to address what he sees as environmental challenges.

Other programs include converting sea water to drinking water with solar-powered equipment.

With the Principality's position in the Mediterranean, concern at rising sea levels should come as no surprise. There are plans at an advanced stage to build an island off Monte Carlo, which will change the map of Monte Carlo, and the district of Fontvieille is largely reclaimed from the sea. The island is expected to be complete in ten years time, and will include the first new hotels in Monaco for some time.

To encourage the thousands who commute to Monaco every day from neighbouring France and Italy the railway station is one of the best in Europe, with frequent and reliable services.

For those who work in Monte Carlo and travel in from Nice and her surrounding villages five days a week, it's both cheaper and quicker to take the train - the trains are modern and comfortable and it's rare for seats not to be available even during the rush hour. Once people are in Monaco the local transport service is equally quick and efficient. Virtually all routes are well planned and easy to understand, and the most you have to wait for a bus is ten minutes, often it's just a couple of minutes - which isn't exactly a hardship given the Monte Carlo weather! The routes are planned to incorporate tourist needs, with many passing by the Hotel de Paris in Casino Square and the Columbus in Fontvieille, two of the best known and popular hotels in Monaco. Fares have been reduced to one Euro, making public transport in Monaco among the lowest priced, comfortable and frequent in Europe. With the overall aim to increase bus usage by 20 per cent, the Principality is also funding five new duplex trains with a thirty per cent increase in train services, and in an innovative attempt to persuade commuters to leave their cars at home will provide free electric cycles at car park schemes.

Monaco is tiny: just 430 acres, or less than a square mile in size. Only 5,070 of its 29,972 residents are Monégasque citizens; the rest are French, Italian, and other foreigners who have come to Monaco for sun, fun, and tax breaks.

Explore and learn about the impacts of climate change and find out how you can make a difference with Climate Change in our World. The Met Office Hadley Centre, British Antarctic Survey and UK Government have harnessed Google Earth technology to present you with an interactive animation showing how climate change and global temperature rises could affect our world over the next 100 years. Once you have opened this KML, click on the icons to find out more about how people around the world are already being affected by changing weather patterns and see the predicted effects of climate change across the globe between now and 2100. On opening up the KML you can find out more about how they produced these files, and what is happening on a global and domestic scale to prevent and combat the effects of climate change.

We have 100 months to save our climate. When the clock stops ticking, we could be beyond our climate's tipping point, the point of no return.

The Oceanographic Museum is a museum of marine sciences in Monaco-Ville, Monaco. Inaugurated in 1910 by its founder, Prince Albert I, this exceptional museum of marine sciences is a monumental architectural masterpiece with a grandiose façade rising majestically above the sea to a height of 279 feet. It took 11 years to build, using 100,000 tons of stone from nearby La Turbie. The museum's holdings also include a great variety of sea related objects, including model ships, sea animal skeletons, tools, weapons, etc. An aquarium is housed in the basement of the museum which showcases a spectacular array of flora and fauna. 4000 species of fish and over 200 families of invertebrates can be seen. It features a presentation of Mediterranean and tropical marine ecosystems. Jacques Cousteau was its director for many years, beginning in 1957.
Besides a museum and aquarium, it is involved in studying the polar ice caps, the Antartic region and global warming. Monaco sponsored an expedition to the North Pole.

Did you know that Historic Preservation is "GREEN"?

We have a lot of great material on historic preservation in New York City. Start with Grand Central Terminal. Then the skyscrapers and the Art Deco buildings of New York (like the General Electric Building at 570 Lexington Avenue). Then we have the great buildings of NY City that did not make it, like Pennsylvania Station.

Find out more on John R. Stilgoe, Harvard professor and new champion of revitalizing railroads for our ecology.
His WebSite

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	The Greenbatteries Store offers great prices on rechargeable batteries, battery chargers, battery cases and holders. At this site you'll find up-to-date information on rechargeable batteries and battery chargers. They explain the different types of batteries and offer suggestions for selecting the right batteries.

Some Other Resources For You
In the late 1940's Chicago was the nation's railroad capital, today Chicago is freight, commuters and a greatly-reduced number of intercity passengers.
Long Island Railroad - Route of the Dashing Commuter. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority Long Island Rail Road is the busiest commuter railroad in North America. It is also an old railroad, rich in heritage.
The Last Interurban: Story of the Chicago, South Shore & South Bend Railroad. This "interurban" runs from South Bend, Indiana to Chicago.
Railroad Mergers in the Northeast of the U.S. Railroad mergers have taken place right from the beginning of railroading. The two peak periods for mergers have been the 1920's and the 1960's. Because of the Transportation Act of 1920, the ICC engaged Professor William Ripley of Harvard to develop a tentative plan for railroad consolidation.
This most interesting period in the history of the New York Central was well-chronicled in its in-house magazine. Excerpts from 1919-1931. A 1921 article in "Transportation World" by Charles Frederick Carter provides the basis for an historical sketch of the New York Central. George H. Daniels was the road's General Passenger Agent for many years and ranks as one of the greats of American advertising. His article on "Health and Pleasure" popularized the Thousand Islands.
New York City Transit Planning. Plans for better transit in the metropolitan area. An analysis of a early 1960's Ford Foundation study of commuting into Grand Central and what might be done to improve it. Some unique ideas and far ahead of its time. Developed early on in the history of aviation, JFK International, LaGuardia and Newark airports were intended to only be accessed by automobile.
Peoria and Eastern Railway (P&E) Company. Peoria and Eastern Railway (P&E) Company went from Indianapolis to Peoria. It could have been used as part of a Chicago Bypass. It was a wholly-owned subsidiary of the New York Central System. It was not until August, 1996, when a portion of the line was sold to Norfolk Southern Corporation, that the line was no longer a part of the NY Central "Big Four" System.
The Troy & Schenectady Railroad, What if it Still Existed?. Let's assume that the Troy & Schenectady Railroad was not abandoned. What would it be like today? What would the vimpact on our environment be?
Union Pacific -- the railroad established by Congress and Abraham Lincoln to span the continent. has had some very tough growing pains recently. A 1996 merger with Southern Pacific to form the nation's largest railroad caused what regulators call an unprecedented breakdown in rail traffic through the heart of America that has lasted more than 10 months.
Public Transportation: The Bus and Montreal. Frequently Asked Questions about Montreal Transportation. Montreal busses, metro, train service, train stations, bridges.
We have a great commuter section. We have a section on commuter trains and even more material on commuters.
Find Abandoned Railroads All around the U.S.
Find Railroads on the Rebound Over the last 50+ years, railroads have changed a lot. Now they are about to change again. Hey! Back to the Future. But they aren't your grandfather's railroad anymore.

Some Other Railroad Resources For You Our many, many railroad related WebSites (history, biographies, stations, equipment, current events).

Vacation French Riviera Tourist Information and Reservations (French Riviera, Nice, Cannes, Monaco, St Tropez, Menton). We have hotels, airline flights, rental cars, trains and ferries. See us for thalassos, travel passes, travel documents and fun trips. We are a great place to go for golf holidays and golf equipment. See us for Nice Corsica ferries

The Global Highway The Global Highway: Interchange to Everywhere. A portal to the World. The Global Highway leads everywhere! Follow it to wherever you might want to go. Everything, but everything about electronic commerce and EDI in our ToolBox. Help with your business information technology projects. Experienced technical experts. Web Site design, search engine optimization and electronic commerce consulting. Rapid response temporary shelters / portable housing. We have something for everyone! Tourist Information and Reservations

Other WebSites you might enjoy are Mound Bayou, Mississippi Movement, basketball, hand tools, and Penney Vanderbilt.

Nice, France Weather	Mexico City Weather	Philadelphia Weather	Saint Tropez Weather	Montreal Weather
Find out more about vacations in Nice, France	Find out more about vacations in Mexico City	Find out more about vacations in Philadelphia	Find out more about vacations in Saint-Tropez	Find out more about vacations in Montreal and the Laurentian Mountains


Find weather around the World . Temperature and forecasts for hundreds of cities. See adverse weather conditions. Upcoming storms, snow, tornados, hurricanes. Check out our special weather forecasts for the French Riviera!!! Visit our Travel Reservations and Information Center and see our CRUISE section. Make Hotel Reservations as well as rental cars ferry from Nice to Corsica. Rent Vacation Homes.

Solar Energy Alternatives
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Cars and the Environment
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Some Champions of our Environment
		See Prince Albert in Antarctica and other Monaco initiatives like electric cars