Chasing Clean Air

Stockholm's Congestion Tax: When it Comes To Cleaning the Air, Sweden & Denmark Rock!

 

California  needs money. We need less traffic. And cleaner air. Put a camera on the Sunset Bridge (whichever side remains up) to implement pay to "play" for folks driving in and out of the Westside. This would encourage car-pooling and public transportation just like it did in Sweden with Stockholm's Congestion Tax. Do the same for folks entering downtown. The Los Angeles Congestion Tax. What do you think?

The majority of people in Sweden and Denmark seem to care more about protecting the environment than Americans if you consider how they vote and where they put their money.

Denmark gets 1/5 of its electricity from wind power, and its nearby island Samso gets 100%, which means, clean air and bad hair days.

Plus Denmark partnered with BetterPlace to implement electric cars and charging stations.

Sweden succeeds in combating what happens to be my #1 frustration in Los Angeles (contributing to our nations worst air pollution) big, black, and ugly traffic.

Denmark and Sweden's civic leaders and transportation departments rock. Our Department of Transportation writes reports, and okays projects like the demolition of Sunset Bridge and the widening of 405 freeway because here in Los Angeles we encourage the flow of cars.

Biking Big in Salzburg

It's been a long time since I biked through Salzburg but I recall the many tree-lined trails.

Jeff Brody was recently there and took this shot of bike trails criss-crossing the European city that prides itself on sustainable practices.

To read highlights of Jeff's clean air Salzburg trip click here.

Clean Air Salzburg Offers Beauty, Music and Charm

When Jeffrey Brody was a little boy, he dreamt of meeting Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music filmed on location in Salzburg, Austria.

In this piece, Jeff shares highlights of his recent Salzburg trip where he walked in Julie Andrew's footsteps and soaked in the land's spirit, while breathing clean mountain fresh air.

In his own words:

When I was young, I fell in love with Julie Andrews in “The Sound of Music.” Scenes with her and the seven Trapp children singing in the gardens of Salzburg and prancing by their lakefront home filled my childhood with visions of living in the Alps with a sweet nanny like Julie Andrews.

Well, the years have gone by and I’ve lost my fantasy about Julie Andrews, especially after she appeared in “Victor/Victoria,” but a visit to Salzburg rekindled my fantasy of living in clean, clear, frosty mountain air, in the foothills of a medieval city with musical enchantment.

The Austrian city remains as wonderful as it was in “The Sound of Music” with its ancient castles, stone churches, bicycle trails and chamber halls filled with the music of Mozart who was born here in 1756.

Located at the beginning of the Alps and close to the German border, Salzburg lies nestled in a mountain valley at an altitude of about 1,300 feet. It’s bisected by the fast-moving Salzach River, which takes on the color of jade in the sun. The name, Salzburg, comes from the salt that was once mined in the area.

 I took a boat trip up river and saw expansive homes and farms that dot the mountainside. Returning to the city, the captain displayed a hearty sense of humor when he turned the wheel to the extreme right, blared a waltz on the loudspeaker, and allowed the boat to spin round and round and drift with the current.

Salzburg has a feel similar to Lake Tahoe; the temperature dips below freezing in the winter and for five months of the year the mountains remain snowcapped. In June, I spotted avalanche shoots with tongues of snow.

Falling in Car-Less Love With Clean Air Hydra Island, Greece

A former colleague Jeff Brody (I used to guest lecture in his Feature Story Writing class at Cal State Fullerton) traveled to Athens, Greece for a conference, and offered to report on air quality and highlights from his trip for Chasing Clean Air.

In his own words, we learn that Athens' air quality was fit for choking, while the nearby island of Hydra offered a different story.

In Jeff's words:

After a while, a really short while, the choking congestion of Athens got to me. The car fumes, the traffic, the humid coat of smog that covered the city beckoned a hasty retreat.  

And the best place to go I'd learn was just 44 nautical miles away on Hydra Island.

I grabbed a ferry for the three hour hop and felt the difference immediately. The strong sea breeze cleared my lungs and exhilarated me. But what pleased me most was this ancient island has the progressive idea to ban cars.

No vehicles are allowed on Hydra!

Transportation comes down to walking, bicycling or hopping on a  mule.

What a break from Athens! No more diesel smells! No more smutty exhaust!

Just salt sea breezes and boundless views of the shimmering Aegean.

Hydra residents aim to preserve their lifestyle by maintaining strict architectural standards and avoiding the curse of the automobile.  

I hiked along a cobblestone road that winds around the port of Hydra. There is an ancient fort on one side. Shops, taverns and coffee houses line the harbor. But the best thing to do is to follow one of the winding path to a restaurant populated by locals. There you will find fresh calamari, sea bass, red snapper and many other Greek delicacies including a few pungent eggplant dishes.