What solutions are /you/ looking for?

[c9]

"In my travels, I have noticed a disturbing theme among the educated minority of eco-advocates: they are every bit as dedicated to the status quo (in their own way) as the NASCAR morons and shopping mall developers. The eco-advocates want cars, too, and all the prerogatives (like free parking and country living) that go with them, just like the WalMart shoppers. If this were not so, then why do the eco-advocates cream in their jeans whenever somebody presents a snazzy new vehicle that runs on a fuel other than gasoline? Indeed, why are some of the eco-friendly pouring all their efforts into the invention of such things instead of into walkable communities and the reform of our stupid land-use laws?

I encountered this ethos most strikingly a few years back at Middlebury College in Vermont, where angry biodiesel advocates assailed my lack of enthusiasm for their particular "solution" -- which seemed geared mainly to allow them to continue to drive their dad's old cast-off SUVs to the snowboarding venues of that progressive little state. But the wish to keep running all our cars permeates what little public discussion there is of the global warming / energy crisis issues at all levels. Even the elder statesmen of the eco-movement talk it up incessantly. The first great victory will come when they shut up about it and put their minds to other tasks."

James Howard Kunstler
(also available on jhkunstler)

Comments

[thespos]

As with any shift in paradigm, gradual works better than drastic.

I don't disagree with Kunstler in principle, but there is the matter of being realistic.

I loved living in Europe because of the extensive mass transit. I could walk a half block to my tram stop, and through a combination of trams, metros or trains (not to mention planes, because I could get to an airport), I could nearly literally go anywhere I wanted in Europe, from Edinburgh to Athens.

In the United States, in particular, this ability does not exist, especially if you do not live in or near a major urban centre. We have been made to rely upon our cars, particularly in central and western parts of this country. Therefore, alternate forms of fuel that are more eco-friendly are a logical first step, because people don't have to give up as much to keep what they have. Asking a population to suddenly immobilize itself just isn't possible, and that's what people in parts of the world would have to do. It's not just about land use, it's about disparity in population dispersal.

And there are walkable communities sprouting up, too, but they are beyond the price ranges of the average person. My business partner lives in such a complex in Rockville, Maryland, and everything is within a few blocks - but he still needs his car to get to other things - there is no mass transit touching his community. He may happen to work from home, but that is not true of his neighbors, who must still commute to jobs around Maryland, DC, and northern Virginia.

[c9.livejournal.com]

Agreed -- it's scary how car dependent we've made ourselves. It really does occupy the beginning, middle and end of every single conversation!