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For many years countries like the United States, France, and Germany idolized the cars that they managed to manufacture. This so-called "love affair" between people and their cars, though, has started to diminish, and it may be for the better. In the past, the people who owned the prettiest, loudest, and coolest cars considered themselves to be at the top of an automobile social structure, but now, new generations are starting to move away from buying cars. They've resorting to walking, bicycling, or taking a form of public transport. Sure, owning cars may make you "better" than everyone else, but at what cost?

Carbon dioxide emissions are at an all-time high, meaning that cars are harming the world more than helping it.

Yes, cars will be continue to be seen as cool, and owning cars will continue to be seen as cool, but nevertheless, with green house gases emitted from the tailpipes of cars ripping holes in the Earth's atmosphere, cars seem to be more of an impediment to the cause than an improvement.

Countries in Western Europe such as Paris and Germany have recognized that the exponential amounts of smog produced by cars are becoming dangerous. Legislators everywhere are taking cautious steps towards eliminating the gases that have a choke hold their cities. An official of the Transportation for America, David Goldberg says "All of our development since World War II has been centered on the car, and that will have to change," (Par. 7, Rosenthal). Cities in Paris and Germany are adopting a similar idea- developing cities than have a ban cars.

Vauban, Germany is one of these cities, dicouraging their 5,500 residents to give up their cars, charging them $40,000 to be able to park in one of the two garages in the city. As a result of these rules, 70% of the families that live in Vauban don't own a car, and 57% sold a car in order to live there (Par. 3, Rosenthal). The citizens are reported to be happier and less tense without a car, claiming that cars were the cause of their stress.

Communites like Vauban are set up in a way that makes life easy for the car-less citizens. In this approach, stores and offices are placed within walking distance from the houses, rather than in malls along some distant highway (Par. 6, Rosenthal). This has effectively reduced the amount of emissions of green-house gases drastically in Germany, and other countries around the world are starting to adopt Vauban's basic precepts in an attempt to make cities more compact (Par. 6, Rosenthal).

Paris, France is one of these cities that is revolutionizing its transportation. Paris has more smog than any other European counry, with 147 micrograms of particulate matter in the air, compared to 79.7 micrograms in London (Par. 17, Duffer). The smog rivaling that of Beijing, China, attempts were made by the government to reduce this smog, fining motorists for two days if they were found using their cars. France, having tax policies that favored the use of diesel over regular gas, blamed diesel fuel for it's record pollution levels.

Bogota, Colombia ran into a similar problem with it's high numbers of carbon dioxide emissions. The country has developed an atmosphere improvement campaign in the 1990's, constructing hiking and bicycle paths to encourage people to go "car-free". For the Day Without Cars, alternative transportation like taxis, buses, and bicycles are promoted, and violators that use their cars on this day are fined $25. Despite the constant rain, participants still turned out, claiming that "It's a good oppurtunity to take away the stress and lower air pollution," (Par. 24, Selsky).

Other cities in Colombia have joined the event such as Cali and Valledupar. The mayor of Asunción, Paraguay, hearing about the revolutionary event says "These people are genertaing a revolutionary change, anf this is crossing borders," (Par 26, Selsky). Since the Day Without Cars' institution, parks and sports centers have prospered, sidewalks and roads have been repaved, and traffic congestion has been dramatically reduced (Par. 28, Selsky). The appeal of car culture is decreasing, and it has effected countries all over the world.

An "incipient shift" in American's behavior over the last few years sugests that the American people are driving less, buying fewer cars, and getting fewer licenses every year (Par. 29, Rosenthal). The number of miles driven by Americans peaked in 2005, and has been diminishing steadily after that. Due to the recession, the majority of Americans couldn't afford to buy new cars, meaning that less people were driving.

Mimi Sheller, a sociology professer states that, "Different things are converging which suggests that we are witnessing a long-term cultural shift," (Par. 35, Rosenthal). What she says is true; carpooling, van and public transportation services, and bike-sharing programs are the most populat they've ever been. Shifts in the population of drivers may accelerate the current trend, and the "cash-strapped" Americans that can't afford a car may never actually have to buy one.

The teenage and young adult population has been affected by this cultural shift aswell, with many teenagers not bothering to get a liscence. They figure out other ways to get around, and revolve their schedules arounf where they can walk or which friend they can ride with. Driving by young people is at an all-time low, dropping by 23% between 2001 and 2009 (Par. 41, Rosenthal). Many young people are adopting the ideas that owning, or even driving vehicles is impractical, or even undesirable. This mind-set, in turn, is reducing green house gas emissions unintentionally.

Over the years car and culture trends have changed multiple times, and this trend occurring now is probably the best one yet. Reducing carbon dioxide and green house gas emissions is very important, and this current philosophy and outlook on cars is aiding the elimination of those harmful gases. "Pedestrain, bicycle, private cars, commecial and public traffic are woven into a connected network to save time, conserve resources, lower emissions and improve safety." (Par. 43, Rosenthal). Overall, this idea is helping the Eath, unlike the many ideas before it. Limiting car use has had a positive effect on the world, and has been advantageous in many countries  in helping them revitialize their cities.

Score: 3