No point denying it. Cars are bad. Motor vehicles are not only voracious consumers of non-renewable resources, the infrastructure they require consumes over 25 percent of our valuable urban land.
Cars also facilitate sprawling suburban developments that engulf farm land, wilderness and wetlands.
Environment Canada estimates that each of the more than 18 million cars in Canada produces about four tonnes of airborne pollutants per year. Personal vehicle exhaust accounts for 65 percent of the carbon monoxide and 33 percent of the carbon dioxide in the air. These emissions destroy plant life and crops and also cause a high rate of lung-related health problems. Current urban planning often forces people to work far from home. The freedom and mobility we value become the tyranny of commuting.