Car-centric culture presents challenges for sustainable city planning

Your weekly newsletter about faith and climate change

August 16, 2024

Demonstrators calling for better bike safety measures attend a bike lane party organized by Philly Bike Action in Philadelphia. (Courtesy of Philly Bike Action)

Some climate activists have long held that Americans' obsession with cars is incompatible with a more climate-friendly future. They claim it doesn't really matter if the car has a combustion engine or electric battery, because the resources and roadways necessary to accommodate so many passenger vehicles present their own issues. This week at EarthBeat, we have two reports that detail this sort of car-centric urban dilemma.

In the wake of New York City's congestion pricing plan being halted earlier this year, presumably due to political pushback, Peter Feuerherd reports that while, in theory, some Catholics support congestion pricing as in line with Catholic teaching, on a practical level some are concerned that it could exacerbate existing disparities in cities and surrounding areas.

"The quality of life in cities has much to do with systems of transport, which are often a source of much suffering for those who use them. Many cars, used by one or more people, circulate in cities, causing traffic congestion, raising the level of pollution, and consuming enormous quantities of non-renewable energy," wrote Pope Francis in Laudato Si'.

"There is a need to reduce the centrality of the car in our lives," said Jamie Kralovec, a professor of urban planning at Georgetown University.

But an editorial in the Brooklyn Diocese newspaper argued, "Manhattan has always been about traffic. Whether it is car or foot traffic. That is what makes the city hum," and noted, "there is little talk about New York City residents who have limited commuting options."

Thomas Caffrey, a Manhattanite and parishioner at the Church of St. Paul the Apostle on the West Side said the "subway system is the life of New York," but noted it needs accessibility improvements, which tolls from the congestion pricing plan could have helped with.

Paul Moses, a Brooklynite, worries the plan would play into New York's real estate industry in unwanted ways.

In Philadelphia, tensions have arisen not between cars and subway systems, but with another alternative and more eco-friendly form of transit — bicycles.

Bob Smietana reports for Religion News Service that bike lanes in the city have repeatedly been blocked on Sunday mornings by churchgoers who are permitted to park on the streets outside their congregations. This causes cyclists to have to veer into traffic lanes, which can be dangerous.

While the churches do have the necessary permits for weekend street parking, they don't want to cultivate a bad reputation with the community over the issue or contribute to unsafe conditions. After protests by Philly Bike Action, a local association of cyclists, pastors are working with their members to seek solutions that meet everyone's needs.

What else is new on EarthBeat:

Faith leaders meet at White House for climate goals

by Chloë-Arizona Fodor, Religion News Service

One of the meeting's top priorities was to explain how faith communities can better use federal funds for clean energy initiatives.

Young Catholics say social issues give Dems the edge in presidential race

by Heidi Schlumpf

The Harris/Walz ticket has energized young voters across the country, including young Catholics. They say a candidate's overall values and character are more important than any single issue or their religious faith.

How a small group of nuns in rural Kansas vex big companies with their investment activism

by Tiffany Stanley, Associated Press

Nestled amid rolling farmland, the Benedictine sisters of Mount St. Scholastica have taken on the likes of Google, Target and Citigroup — calling on major companies to do everything from AI oversight to measuring pesticides to respecting the rights of Indigenous people.

Indigenous-led Amazon Frontlines to receive 2024 Hilton Humanitarian Prize

by Chris Herlinger

Amazon Frontlines is "the first organization of Indigenous and Western human rights and climate activists to receive the Prize," the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation said.

In university summer program, students do hands-on research, learn faith and science not at odds

by Kimberley Heatherington, OSV News

North Dakota's University of Mary's Summer Undergraduate Research Vocation Experience, or SURVE, is a 10-week annual program from late May through early August providing paid, science-research internships.

From throwing soup to suing governments, there’s strategy to climate activism’s seeming chaos − here’s where it’s headed next

by Shannon Gibson, The Conversation, Religion News Service

By strategically using both radical forms of civil disobedience and more mainstream public actions, such as lobbying and state-sanctioned demonstrations, activists can grab the public’s attention while making less aggressive tactics seem much more acceptable.

I prayed 'lectio divina' with a pine cone

by Christina Leaño

The pine cone I prayed with now sits on my dresser. It is a reminder of the message in creation and the need to continue "to dare to turn what is happening to the world into [my] own personal suffering."

What's happening in other climate news:

This oil tycoon brings in millions for Trump, and may set his agenda —Josh Dawsey and Maxine Joselow for The Washington Post

'It's torture': brutal heat broils Texas prisons, killing dozens of inmates —Ed Pilkington for the Guardian

South Korea recycles 98% of its food waste. What can it teach the world? —Andrew Jeong and Julie Yoon for The Washington Post

Can Dirt Clean the Climate? —Somini Sengupta for The New York Times, photos and video by Matthew Abbott

Carbon credits are supposed to funnel money to poor countries. Do they? —Joseph Winters for Grist

Washington State Solar Project Paused Amid Concern About Native Cultural Sites —B. "Toastie" Oaster for High Country News

What happens when a so-called climate solution risks your community's safety? —Yessenia Funes for Vox

Final Beat:

This is the last newsletter you will receive from me for a while, as I will be out of office on parental leave with a new baby for several months. But don't worry — EarthBeat Weekly will continue to land in your inbox on its regular schedule each week, written and sent by NCR environment correspondent Brian Roewe, who will be leading EarthBeat during my time away.

There is a lot of important news coming up this fall, with a global synod for the Catholic Church at the Vatican, a presidential election in the United States and the next United Nations climate change conference, COP29, in Baku, Azerbaijan. Not to mention the latest round of global biodiversity talks and a potential international treaty to address plastic pollution.

Make sure you don't miss any EarthBeat stories by also signing up for our EarthBeat Daily newsletter, which arrives in subscribers' inboxes each morning that there is new content on EarthBeat's website. Sign up here.

Thanks to Brian for stepping up to ensure our coverage doesn't miss a beat! I'll be following along all the news from home just like you.

Thanks for reading EarthBeat!

Stephanie Clary
Environment Editor
National Catholic Reporter
sclary@ncronline.org
Instagram: @stephanieclaryncr