In Chile – as in the rest of the world – we see a growing discomfort among motorists about the rising gas prices. Here in Santiago this translates also to demonstrations by people that are either relying on or are plainly used to take the car. This seems to me a bit ironical. Every other day we have air pollution warnings by the government limiting the (legal) use of special kinds of vehicles so that the smog level doesn’t get ‘too unhealthy’. On the contrary the demonstrating motorists are asking for lowering the gas taxes arguing that a great part of the economy relies on this very combustion based transport. The government should help out since those transcendent causes hit the economy and the middle class – which both ought to be protected. In fact Chile is seeing price increases in different product categories ranging from bread to bus transit because of higher gas prices. While this argument surely has some basis, i would argue that the decline of fossil fuels is not that unforeseen. Peak Oil is not a myth. People know that fossil fuels neither last forever nor are ubiquitously found. In fact there are people dying everday in conflicts related to oil.

Therefore i think economy and society needs to develop and adopt new ways of undertaking transport. As capitalist economy is rather interested in making a quick buck than investing in long term goals it is probably up to governments to encourage (read: subsidize) change. But than politicians are rather in it for the next election and not the welfare of future generations. Which leads me to the conclusion that true environmental change can only happen from below, from the people choosing whether they take the SUV or the metro to get to work. Furthermore there is a need for a broad social movement for environmental change to demand more alternative transport and energy.

Here in Chile the beginning of such movements can be seen: ranging from objecting Pascua Lama to demanding urban cycle tracks. It is very promising to see an increasing number of people challenging car and combustion culture. Chile has just experienced one of the greatest social movements in a long time. The students demanding profound change in education had and still have broad support in Chilean society. Change is possible - but it is unlikely to be initiated by politics nor economy.

Some Chilean environmental groups / individuals devoted to alternative transport (read: use of bicycle):

• Movimiento Furiosos Ciclistas
• ciclista urbano independiente
• Caminando en el aire
• 1….velocidad
• CicloVida
• Nacion Pedal
• Ideas Sobre Pedales

This entry was posted on Friday, June 23rd, 2006 at 3:59 pm and is filed under english, mobility, selfrule, santiago, urbanlife, environment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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