By Sophia Corso
A student organization at the University of California-Berkeley plans to hold a “Rally to Ban Cars” this weekend, citing a need for “climate action in the streetscape.”
These leftist student activists have been protesting against the presence of cars on Telegraph Avenue, a road just south of campus, since November 2021.
The students say they would like to see the avenue, which currently features two northbound lanes of travel and wide sidewalks on each side, transformed into a pedestrian-focused model, as is often found in European cities.
Following the European model would likely allow the avenue’s restaurants to expand outdoor dining availability and its shops to attract increased foot traffic – a win for customers as well as business owners. However, instead of presenting these reasonable suggestions, which many might find worthy of serious consideration, the student group has decided to employ illogical leftist attempts to justify its demands.
“Students have a right to breathe clean air, and they have the right to inherit an earth that is not on fire,” reads a section of Telegraph for People’s website. “Climate change is here, and cars cause it. Berkeley’s revolutionary Telegraph Avenue must embrace the future and be on the front lines of fighting climate change,” it continues.
Last year, some students illegally took it upon themselves to close down the road, only allowing pedestrians, cyclists, and buses to pass. According to a TikTok video, they call the strategy “tactical urbanism.”
https://www.tiktok.com/@telegraphforpeople/video/7075126657887014186?embed_source=121331973%2C120811592%2C120810756%3Bnull%3Bembed_discover_button&refer=creator_embed&referer_url=328091703-atari-embeds.googleusercontent.com%2Fembeds%2F16cb204cf3a9d4d223a0a3fd8b0eec5d%2Finner-frame-minified.html%3Fjsh%3Dm%253B%252F_%252Fscs%252Fabc-static%252F_%252Fjs%252Fk%253Dgapi.lb.en.ydLROSGdlBE.O%252Fd%253D1%252Frs%253DAHpOoo_OUY4V-VcsLuRVnUuYVO758FydkA%252Fm%253D__features__
Since announcing the upcoming protest on Twitter and Instagram, the group also advertised t-shirts that will be available for purchase at the rally. The shirts read, “A Green Future is a City Where we Ban Cars.” It is unclear how proceeds from the sale will be used.
you know what to do pic.twitter.com/BHxUvd9g3r
— Telegraph for People (@telegraphforppl) January 20, 2023
At a previous rally, an attendee wore a shirt that read “Ban Cars, Be Gay.”
Obviously, restricting cars on this street would have next to no positive impact on the overall air quality around campus. Students and community members are not going to sell their cars and start taking the bus, as this group demands, simply because they can’t drive on a three-block-long stretch of Telegraph Avenue.
By grasping for straws to attach their arguments to the Left’s climate and LGBTQ+ agendas, these Berkeley students have overshadowed any of their potentially logical arguments with nonsense.
