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Those of us now desperately concerned about climate change (and we all are now, aren't we) often feel we would like to go back in time and do a bit of fine adjustment. In hindsight the Luddites had it about right, but you can't unscramble an egg, and we have to work with the effects of the 'progress' that has been made since Ned Ludd and his merry band were smashing the new-fangled weaving machines. Go Ned, I want to say, those machines are not just going to take your jobs away, they are going to take the whole world away, stop them, but there has been too much water under the bridge, too much CO2 in the air, too much change to society and economies since 1811.
So here is a compromise. Let's see if there are some stopping points in transport, points at which Ned Ludd, works supervisor could say, 'Alright lads, that'll do, let's hold it there.'
Land transport? Trains were the great breakthrough and should have been persisted with in their original form. How about improving the efficiency with which coal is used to generate steam as well as reducing the CO2 and particulate emissions, and forget about diesel and steam trains. And forget about improving roads. The craziness of improving highways more and more to encourage personal and freight transport on roads and decreasing that carried on trains has been one of the silliest and most self-defeating processes of the last hundred years. And keep in mind canal transport. May not be practicable in areas where drought is going to hit, and never possible in mountainous areas, but on flat land it was a very good and efficient transport mechanism until replaced by trains.
Sea? Sailing ships were reaching a peak in speed in the late nineteenth century until further development was nipped in the bud by the advent of steam ships. In the last thirty or so years there have been enormous advances in sailing ships used for sport and pleasure. Materials, design, communication, weather forecasting and oceanography are infinitely better than they were. Application of such improvements to transport sized ships could make the speeds achieved by the clipper ships seem slow, and return us to a time of free transport by windpower.
Air? The Wright brothers should have been a prime target for a later Ned Ludd. Great invention boys, he would have said, well done, but put it straight into the Smithsonian will you. Schoolchildren will look at it in awe in 100 years, as they realize what a mess the extreme development of this technology would have made of the planet. A recorded message from President Gore could tell them what a lucky escape the world had. Instead the technology that could have been developed could be used again. Balloons as a serious transport device went down in the flames of the Hindenburg. But just as with sailing boats, application of all the new developments in materials and design and knowledge of gases, together with improvements of our knowledge of weather patterns, could all make lighter than air vehicles practical. And essentially non-polluting. Slightly slower, yes, but would it matter? Given modern virtual communications, the need to physically get from London to New York in 4 hours seems frivolous.
Space? Don't even think about it for commercial travel. Yes, you, Mr Branson, I'm talking to you.
So what do you think - time to reverse tracks, put the transport juggernaut into reverse and return to a slightly more leisurely time? Might find that older ways of travel were more enjoyable, more ... civilized. And the planet will breathe a small sigh of relief, and then get on to tackling the non-transport pollution.
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