tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15168595.post5705199163370307039..comments2023-10-28T07:30:04.147-04:00Comments on Human Voices: Gas is not the measure of all thingsCapt. Fogghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03093968390001879062noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15168595.post-19846171055638024342009-03-20T10:02:00.000-04:002009-03-20T10:02:00.000-04:00Some people don't give a rat's ass about art or mu...Some people don't give a rat's ass about art or music or architecture or industrial design or even nature. I think it's a shame.<BR/><BR/>Simply "timing" the stop lights on suburban roads could save enormous amounts of fuel: eliminating toll booths, reducing the number of shopping centers with every entrance and exit possessed of its own untimed traffic light. we haven't come close to trying things that work better than what we're clamoring about. Getting rid of the esyouvees alone would make things better and safer than putting a few million electric cars on the road. We're neglecting to fix the problem in favor of daydreaming about impractical, uncomfortable solutions and it won't work. Electric cars were tried and found wanting a hundred years ago for the same reason they will be again. America needs to go on a diet and that means more than having a diet coke with your fries and bacon-cheese megaburger.<BR/><BR/>For what it's worth, I have too much background in engineering and things like thermodynamics to buy into the idea of 100mpg carburettors or water burning gadgets. I think we've come very close to the theoretical limits of reciprocating engines, although we could still see some improvements using exotic things like ceramic pistons. I don't think we will though. Fuel cells are inherently much more efficient and I still think that's the way to go.<BR/><BR/>We once had the electric rail systems we need today, but we tore them out. We've reduced the need to work in a central place, but we still commute.<BR/><BR/>What I'm really trying to get across is that our increasing population is forcing us to lead lives like animals in factory farms and instead of protesting it, we protest freedom as though we didn't deserve space and time and leisure; individuality and dignity. <BR/><BR/>In most European countries, when you travel from Paris, for instance, you're in the countryside almost immediately. There's no hundred mile halo of malls, lots and concrete or sprawling, soul-eating developments -- just small towns and nature. That's largely the result of people living near where they work and getting there on trains, streetcars and buses. It's the result of planning rather than swashbuckling development with no purpose other than to make money for developers. <BR/><BR/>We are passionately arguing for fewer choices and more proscribed lives even while we clog up the countryside and dirty the air trying to flee it. It's all so American.Capt. Fogghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03093968390001879062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15168595.post-36508322546703107792009-03-19T23:30:00.000-04:002009-03-19T23:30:00.000-04:00Okay. So I'm a cynic that sometimes buys into con...Okay. So I'm a cynic that sometimes buys into conspiracy theories. I'm buying into one now.<BR/><BR/>I fully believe we currently have the technology that increases mileage dramatically and reduces pollution by an equal measure.<BR/><BR/>Sure. I could be terribly wrong. But I don't think so.Buffalohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04155912811378077542noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15168595.post-66346838773657918632009-03-19T18:55:00.000-04:002009-03-19T18:55:00.000-04:00mmmm.... you are speaking to someone who doesn't g...mmmm.... you are speaking to someone who doesn't give a rat's behind about cars :) i want something to get me where i need to go- and to transport my crap. but i got your point and you are right. we are so reactionary to everything that we don't see the forest through the trees. investing in mass transit like almost everywhere else on the planet- and planning our living spaces accordingly- would help ease the transition to autos and other areas to enviro friendly. we could make cars and whatnot that were efficient and cool- but we certainly don't need to have so many. not when most folks go to and from their jobs everyday and that's pretty much it. often, the common sense approaches are the ones ignored because they are obvious. the powers that be can't be made to look powerful if they are stating the obvious :)billiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16206096509976316141noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15168595.post-29818637183250490082009-03-19T18:41:00.000-04:002009-03-19T18:41:00.000-04:00How about giving up roads and having "rail-cars" o...How about giving up roads and having "rail-cars" overhead rail[s], on ground rails,or any other combination?Baltazarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17027288330478417059noreply@blogger.com