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| Angelika/Mike Schilli |
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TODO
Angelika America has awakened from its slumber, as suddenly climate change and environmental protection are on everyone's lips. When the black talk show queen Oprah Winfrey takes up a topic, you know that a general trend has begun. Last week, Oprah encouraged her TV viewers to go to the supermarket with cloth bags, replace regular light bulbs with energy-saving ones, use environmentally friendly cleaning products, recycle, and defy the American packaging craze.
Now you must know that Oprah's admonitions are likely to have more impact than those of high-profile scientists and politicians. Especially the female portion of the population follows Oprah's mantra like a religion. Some time ago, Al Gore also had the opportunity to discuss his documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" on Oprah's talk show. In it, the former Vice President under Clinton explains the consequences of global warming using vivid photos and graphics. As is well known, the film received an Oscar this year for Best Documentary Feature, another indication that environmental awareness is becoming mainstream in America.
Even companies like Walmart, which are otherwise widely known for their poor working conditions and aggressive expansion tactics, are jumping on the trend. Walmart's green website encouraged their customers on "Earth Day," which is celebrated in the USA in April, to adopt more environmentally friendly purchasing behavior. PG&E (Pacific Gas and Electricity), the company that produces our electricity in San Francisco, also launched a PR campaign. If less electricity is consumed, PG&E does not have to expand its infrastructure at great expense, and so it is actually in the interest of the power generation company if people weniger Consume electricity. On http://www.letsgreenthiscity.com|www.letsgreenthiscity.com| http://www.letsgreenthiscity.com|www.letsgreenthiscity.com K> PG&E encourages people to help San Francisco take the lead in environmental protection.
San Francisco certainly serves as a role model in terms of environmental protection in America. Here, you frequently encounter hybrid cars that run partly on electricity and partly on gasoline. At traffic lights and in stop-and-go traffic, the gasoline engine is completely off, and it only engages automatically during strong acceleration and on the highway. As a result, these cars use extremely little gasoline, achieving up to 70 MPG (miles per gallon), which means they consume about 4 liters per 100 km in economy mode. Despite this, the vehicle has almost 80 horsepower, as Americans are reluctant to drive with less.
San Francisco will be the first American city to ban non-biodegradable plastic bags (at least in large supermarkets and drugstores), and this has been widely reported in the German press, albeit with a slightly ironic undertone. At the supermarket chain "Trader Joe's," you can enter a raffle every time you bring your own bag. We've been transporting our groceries from the supermarket in our large blue plastic tub for ages.
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