大象传媒

大象传媒.co.uk

Talk about Newsnight

A blog and forum.

Weaning the States off cars

  • Newsnight
  • 15 Aug 06, 09:45 PM

In the land where car is king Portland Oregon is something of an anomaly. The city has developed its infrastructure with a series of public/private finance schemes coupled with targeted urban regeneration.

The local transport department even sought to prove how robust the city's transport is by challenging a group of residents to ditch their SUVs and station wagons and get on their bikes, city buses, trains and trams.

Sayeeda Warsi, vice chair of the Conservative Party and our reporter tonight, believes that the city鈥檚 integrated transport scheme is way ahead of anything the UK has to offer in terms of urban living, public health and limiting environmental impact. Read her piece - and watch the film here.

We went there as part of our search for the best public services in the world, and Portland鈥檚 transport scheme seemed to fit that bill. Sayeeda Warsi, a self-confessed petrolhead, was convinced. Are you? Do you know of somewhere with a better approach?

Which side are you on?

  • Newsnight
  • 15 Aug 06, 04:10 PM

Can you be neutral in the so-called war on terror?

Tonight we'll be exploring the arguments for and against the proposition that the time is coming when everyone will have to decide which side they're on.

A majority of the British public opposed the Iraq war and Tony Blair's position on the war in Lebanon, yet the vast majority also abhor Islamic terrorism in the UK. Are those positions compatible? Bush and Blair seem to think not.

But what of the other argument, that these events can't be lumped together, that problems with the Islamic world could be resolved by a change in foreign policy, and the West's current approach is only making matters worse?

What do you think?

The 大象传媒 is not responsible for the content of external internet sites