Attentat#! - The Manifesto
2004 - video and transcript
Attentat#10 | Manifesto | Photo album | External links | Press info
The Video
(in French)Directed by ATSA. Editing: Mathieux St-Arnaud; Sound: Luc Raymond.
The Transcript
Because the only useful SUV is a dead SUV.
Because an industry that inhibits the development of ‘clean’ automotive technology at an affordable cost is a guilty industry.
Because a government that does not oblige industry to do its best to preserve the common good should be forced to step down, or inspire a counter-industrial revolution.
Because any driver whose behaviour is environmentally irresponsible should have their license revoked.
Rationale
Considering our current knowledge of the direct links between human consumption of fossil fuels and the greenhouse effect, which in turn has an irreversible impact on human health and the ecology of the planet, we hold the automobile industry responsible for gross negligence. Backed by oil interests and government interests, it continues to produce vehicles that, as they exceed limits for pollution emission, should not even be offered as a choice to consumers.
We deem unjustifiable, irresponsible and negligent in the extreme that the industry has allowed the production and proliferation of these ‘energivores’, these ultra-polluting and unsafe machines; marketing them along with an idealized lifestyle, much as cigarettes were sold in the 1950s.
We deem unacceptable the sums of money spent promoting such a lifestyle, based solely on consumption, versus the money used to promote any alternative and the production of cleaner automotive technology. SUV purchases are currently higher than car purchases. A day will come when citizens who make their choices in consideration of the common good will rise up against those who choose to ignore it.
Before violence breaks out in the streets, here are our
demands:
The crimes committed against the environment and against our health have no dollar value. The citizens who do their part by not purchasing such vehicles are not asking for compensation, but foremost for action to be taken:
1. Dissuasion of potential SUV buyers through a cohesive campaign about their inappropriateness.
2. To condemn the car industry as we all condemn the tobacco industry:
Smog can cause death : the vehicles’ rate of emission of greenhouse gases should figure in all advertisements.
3. Information provided to consumers regarding fuel-efficient vehicles and access to substantial rebates when choosing this option. Traffic reporters on all forms of media should make it their mandate to communicate this information.
4. Mandatory verification of all vehicles for insurance renewal.
5. All new fuel-consuming vehicles should be provided with Stop & Go technology, which effectively reduces their fuel consumption up to 10%. Drivers of existing vehicles should have access to grants from industry and the government to have the technology installed. Furthermore, drivers should be obliged to manually stop their engine after stopping for more than fifteen seconds (at a red light, in a traffic jam, or idling for any other reason), as is currently the practice in Switzerland. Drivers who do not respect this law are subject to considerable fines and the loss of their license after three such arrests.
ATSA will embark upon a terrorist campaign, targeting these vehicles and the negligent attitudes of drivers (i.e. failure to stop their motor when stopped, presence of remote car starters, speeding, etc.).
» Back to top
