How About Leading by Example? 
By Pete Behr

One of the things you notice when visiting a poor, third-world country, is how many people walk. They walk because they have to go somewhere, and there is no other way to do so. So you see them, two or three deep along roads close to towns, and singly in the country. Their step up would be a bicycle, or more upscale, a motorbike, or a donkey. A recent trip to Morocco confirmed that walking is still a way of life in some places.

Of course, in the old quarter of towns, inside the Medina, where the souks (markets) are located, streets are so narrow that only pedestrians and donkeys are allowed. People with cars who want to shop must park them outside the gates to the inner city. The souks have everything one needs- from vegetables, fruits, meats (including live chickens-killed and plucked on the spot), fish, spices- every imaginable kind of edible product, along with other vendors and craftsmen selling leather goods, brass objects, slippers, and many other products.

We stood outside an ancient mosque, waiting for prayer to end so we could enter and look at the architecture and the tile work. Alongside the door to the mosque was a butcher shop. It was a cool day, and the meat hung on hooks alongside the counter, and the butcher filled orders, slicing and grinding various cuts of beef and lamb. A young man in a New York Giants jersey greeted us, speaking halting but clear English. He said his father was the butcher. He welcomed us to Morocco and said he hoped to visit America some day. I asked him where he learned English, and he said "in school," so he is tri-lingual- Arabic, French and English, albeit elementary for the present. I wished him well and he said "Salaam," placing his right hand over his heart.

We noticed is that there is no obesity. ZERO! Is this because everyone, or almost everyone, walks? I don’t think anyone goes hungry. There are few MacDonalds, except in Casa Blanca, a sprawling city of five million, choked with cars, taxis, mini-taxis (petit taxis), and some public transportation. Out in the country, one sees children walking and running to and from school- no school busses. And every place, one sees children playing soccer. The North African countries are avid soccer players. Their national teams often qualify for the World Cup, and their best players find their way to fame and fortune on European league teams. Their middle and long distance runners hold world records, and are national heroes, along with the soccer stars.

But the average person’s ambition is to own a car. Can we convince them that they should continue to walk, and save the planet from global warming? Morocco, like virtually all developing countries, has limited electricity, although they have a rural electrification plan, bringing power to remote communities in the mountains, away from the coastal plain, similar to the Rural Electrification Authority we established during the Depression. Morocco’s electrical demand is increasing eight percent per year. Fifty percent of their electricity is provided by an American company, from a coal-burning generating plant located at a port on the Atlantic. Morocco has no coal; it is imported from South Africa. So their electrical demand doubles every eight years. Can we convince them to forgo lighting, refrigeration and, when they can afford it, air conditioning? (In July and August, the temperature regularly exceeds 110 degrees.) Imagine Phoenix without air conditioning. Should we send Peter Shumlin, with a delegation from VPIRG, to Morocco, with a population nearly sixty times that of Vermont, to tell them of the crisis they face?

A better plan would be to set an example by conserving energy, and continuing development of technology to reduce the release of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. So far, we see a lot of posturing but no real leadership from our politicians. Why doesn’t Shumlin sponsor a movement for the state, our largest employer, to reduce its energy consumption by ten percent- to start? At this writing, the Vermont Senate and House have passed a bill (called their "marquee" bill in press accounts), authorizing a new bureaucracy to coach Vermonters on how to save energy, with a tax on Vermont Yankee to generate the millions it will cost. The tax has engendered widespread criticism from area newspapers, and from lawmakers who voted against it. Hopefully Governor Douglas will veto the bill.

Pete Behr writes a regular column for the Vermont Standard