MARCH 14 2020 LISTENER 5
a single human to transport
themselves and their own
microclimate everywhere in
a tonne of steel is ludicrous.
This does not scale. Our road
toll, obesity stats and growing
congestion already confirm
this, before climate change
and other health effects are
considered.
Electric cars are better than
internal-combustion engines,
but they still have a significant
footprint – carbon, social and
physical. Having watched
the watt meter on my e-bike
and thought a lot about drag
force being proportional to
the square of your speed and
about how we live our lives,
I believe we have to rethink
mobility.
Better provision for active
and public transport is a
no-brainer and better urban
planning to support this is
essential. But maybe we should
also be more efficient and
thoughtful in how we move
ourselves and our stuff. Travelless frequently, stay longer,
self-propel to appreciate the
journey and gather your life
(work, hobbies, family, friends)
closer to you, so you spend
more time doing things and
less time getting there.
Miriam Odlin
(Rotorua)The Editorial advocating a
switch to electric vehicles over-
looked the major investment
we have in petrol and diesel
vehicles. Does anyone really
think these are just going to be
crushed and melted down?
This suggests two things
that need to be done. First,
we must develop technology
to recover, at acceptable cost,
what we can from internal-
combustion-engine vehicles,
and second, we need biofuels
to keep the existing engines
operating.
Biofuels do not mean etha-
nol from food; there are far
better sources, but the technol-
ogy is not properly developed.G
ET
TY(^) IM
AG
ES
TO ENTER Send your captions for the photo above to [email protected],
with “Caption Competition No 374” in the subject line. Alternatively, entries
can be posted to “Caption Competition No 374”, NZ Listener, Private Bag 92512,
Wellesley St, Auckland 1141, or submitted through listener.co.nz/
win. Entries must be received by noon, Tuesday, March 17.
THE PRIZE The winner will receive chef Simon Gault’s
collection of healthy recipes for the season of barbecues, picnics
and holidays at the bach.
Caption Competition {[email protected]}
Prince Charles: “It’s a
wheelchair, not a throne.
It’s still my turn next.”
– Anna Gray, Auckland
Charles: “It’s a nobility
scooter.” – Dean Donoghue,
Papamoa Beach
Prince William: “We’re test-
driving Phillip’s company
car.” – Owen McMahon,
Auckland
Charles: “Not another heir-
brained idea.” – Alan Belcher,
Christchurch
Charles: “Relax, son.
One has a duty to rub
shoulders at charity
events.” – Kath Jones, Waikanae
Caption: “Roll rehearsal for
role reversal.” – Ian Bywater,
Rangiora
William: “I hope you’re
a better driver than
Grandad.” – Alan Wickens,
Porirua
Charles: “They call me
the Prince of Wheels.”
- Kath Jones
WINNING CAPTION
Conal Atkins, NelsonA gentle push,
just like I gave
your brother.
We have a plastics problem,
but simple technology can
convert it to high-quality fuel.
Ian Miller
(Lower Hutt)The decisions the Government
needs to make to deal with
climate change are not always
going to be the best for the
economy nor popular with all
sections of the population.
Certainly, the decisions by
some parties on the electric
vehicle feebate idea show if we
want to have a Government
that takes this seriously, there
are a couple of boxes not to
tick in September.
Neil Anderson
(Algies Bay)LISTENING PLEASURE
It is understandable that Peter
Griffin makes good use of the
latest gear in his enjoyment of
music, classical and otherwise
(Technology, February 29).
But the illustration with his
column exemplifies a listening
experience foreign to some of
the people he speaks for – we
want our music in the room,
not poured directly into our
ears.
He also overlooks the educa-
tional aspect of RNZ Concert.
What he calls “presenter
chatter” is to me information
about performers and the
works they play. And nice as it
would be to compose a playlist
of my favourites, I would missCaption
competition
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