go. But it seemed an event so far outside the range of normal ex- istence that it probably wouldn’t happen in my lifetime. The end, however, is in sight. Oh, not of the automobile itself. But of the era that featured two gas-guzzlers in every driveway. ae I fondly recall a chap named Kim Foikus, who became a media personality in the late Sixties when he received a Canada Council grant to parade around Vancouver dressed up in a medieval jester’s costume, and proclaimed himself the Town Fool. Foikus, actually a religious scholar, made a point of mocking everything from money to political power. I once watched him mes- merize a group of businessmen in . ‘ the Hotel Vancouver by throwing , dollar bills in a ‘‘magic circle’? on the floor of the lobby and defying anyone to step into the circle. No one did. One of his lesser-known exploits was to buy a pair of mules and an old wooden cart. He was living in Kerrisdale at the time, and as you can imagine the neighbors were less than thrilled to have two mules grazing in one of the front yards. Such was Foikus’ fame at the time that the police kept pro- crastinating about busting him and his two mules — except, finally, when he insisted on going downtown with them. It wasn’t really the fault of the mules. They were stubborn and : balky, to be sure. But they did clop a along obediently enough. It was . just their pace. Traffic quickly piled up behind them. Horns were honking. EEEYS 10% DISCOUNT WITH THIS AD until Nov. 30th Practical_& Novel gifts. Scissors, T-shirts, knives, can-openers, caorkscrews, mugs and books. . OPEN TUES.-—SAT. . 3432 Cambie St. (next to Park Theatre) ~ 876-5521 4 - Sunday, November 12, 1989 - North Shore News © strictly personal © FOR YEARS I have known, like everyone else, that the fossil fuel-burning automobile sooner or later would have to Drivers were yelling and shaking their fists. I must say, it was a splendid sight: this lonely pioneer of the New Age, resplendent in his jester’s costume, reins in hand, surveying the chaos on Granville Street as he clopped and creaked Te main component of the greenhouse effect is carbon dioxide, which the average Canadian spews into the atmosphere at the rate of somewhere between five and 16 tonnes per year. as toward the centre of the city, even- tually tying the mules up to a park- ing metre (two, actually) and click- ing in a couple of dimes provided by the Canada Council. The message, of course, was that the automobile was causing pollu- tion and would have to be replaced by some other mode of transport. Reality being the tough nut it is, Foikus eventually discovered that he couldn’t keep appointments on time, using this method of trans- portation. He took to calling his friends, including your correspon- dent, asking them to pick him up and drive him to his various desti- nations. This was not quite ecologically kosher, and after a while his friends became somewhat scarce. This must have been 1969. As it turns out, Foikus was precisely 20 years ahead of his time. Last week, in Prince Edward Island, the assembled provincial environment ministers succeeded in goading the beleaguered, foot- dragging federal environment minister, Lucien Bouchard, into announcing stringent new regula- tions governing emissions from automobile exhausts. P.E.I. was an appropriate place for the announcement to be made since, if it is true that we can ex- pect the oceans to rise by seven metres in the next few decades, thanks to the greenhouse effect, we will be saying goodbye to P.E.I., as well as much of the Lower Mainland, Florida, Bangladesh and the atolls of Micronesia. The main component of the greenhouse effect is carbon diox- ide, which the average Canadian spews into the atmosphere at the rate of somewhere between five and 16 tonnes per year. The figures vary, according to which expert you quiz. But even at ihe lowest figure, the amount is staggering. Bouchard and the provincial ministers pledged that Canada will bring in the same exhaust pipe regulations as California by the year 1994. These regulations are the toughest in the world. It will cost us $180 more when we buy a new car, plus an addi- tional $i5 a year for annual tailpipe checks. These are piddling amounts, compared with the catas- trophe that is facing us globally. Keep in mind that at the mo- ment, it is estimated that 45 per cent of the carbon dioxide being blasted into the atmosphere comes from faulty tailpipes on cars, trucks and buses that haven’t been properly maintained. The California standards, which Canada is going to match, were originally drawn up in 1966, eves before Kim Foikus took his lonei: mule ride through the streets of Vancouver. The regulations were ignored by the rest of the world until this last few months, when politicians finally began to take the warnings of scientists seriously. The California experience has shown that tough regulations work. According to California’s Air Resources Board, even though the number of cars it ine state has increased by 50 per cent since the mid-sixties, emissions have gone down significantly. So now, belatedly, Canadians are on the road to emission con- trots, and after that, alternative fuels. The gas-guzzler’s days are numbered. 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