In Britain, citizens becoming alarmed about pubs going extinct

Every few years we've heard alarm bells going off in Britain about the loss of an institution: the cherished pub. Statistics show that, over the last 20 years, the country has lost about 20 percent of their pubs. And the closures are accelerating. At least 7000 have called it quits since 2008 alone. Now the losses have become so grave that the government has jumped in to try to reverse the trend. A new law allows citizens to petition to have a pub designated an “asset of community value,” a status that triggers a moratorium on the sale for up to six months, giving the community valuable time to get together a suitable bid for the pub. But it may be a losing battle. Fact is, tastes are changing. Britons are drinking less in general and less beer in particular, favoring wine in brightly-lit hotspots instead.